Can Russia build its own ‘Great Firewall’?

As the Kremlin moves to block or throttle more foreign websites and Russian citizens rush to deploy workarounds such as virtual private networks, concern is growing that Moscow plans to recreate Beijing’s tough restrictions — known collectively as the “Great Firewall” — that shield Chinese citizens from much of the broader internet. But Russia likely possesses neither the infrastructure nor the technical capabilities to mirror China’s relative success in walling off its citizens from the web. And even if it did, it’s unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top advisers have the political capital to do it. The Russian government has struggled for years to restrict online content. Between 2018 and 2020, for example, the Kremlin couldn’t get its nominal ban on messaging app Telegram to actually take hold. “You had Kremlin officials who would have Telegram on their phone even though it was technically illegal, and who would make fun of the Russian internet-censor people for not being able to block it,” said Justin Sherman, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank. Unlike the Chinese internet — which from Day One was structured with tight controls on content in mind — Sherman said Russian internet infrastructure is “extremely diffuse,” with hundreds of service providers spread across a vast country. That makes it tough to find the kinds of chokepoints the Chinese built directly into their networks. Sherman said the Kremlin is slowly improving the technical capabilities it needs to filter out unwanted internet content. But Russian citizens, unlike those in China, have had years of exposure to US tech platforms.