The US government is funding censorship circumvention tools in Russia that have become essential for many citizens and activists, who would otherwise risk finding themselves cut off from the world.
“Horrible propaganda”
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has intensified its propaganda and drastically restricted access to unofficial sources of information – that is, the media that report on the war and not on a “special operation” against « nazis ».
At the beginning of the year, the virtual private network (VPN) Psiphon, which makes it possible to circumvent censorship, recorded approximately 48,000 connections per day in Russia.
They were multiplied by 20 in mid-March, when the government banned Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And today, the network claims to have more than 1.45 million daily users on average.
“Russian television only broadcasts horrible propaganda of incitement to hatred and murder”, says Natalia Krapiva, lawyer for the American NGO Access Now.
Anti-censorship computer tools have therefore become essential for consulting other information, but also for communicating freely with loved ones.
“Software should be easy to use and secure. Otherwise users risk being spotted and put under surveillance,” adds the expert.
Without the financial support of the American administration, “we simply wouldn’t have the means to provide such sophisticated tools, and therefore to have such an impact”says Dirk Rodenburg, a director of Psiphon.
Psiphon, like Lantern and nthLink, is backed by the OTF (Open Technology Fund), a government fund, which spends some $3-4 million a year to fund VPNs around the world, in the name of freedom of speech. expression.
Chinese training
The organization confirmed to AFP that it had released additional emergency funds in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine this year.
She estimates that around 4 million people in Russia currently use these three private networks to browse the internet — for free, as international sanctions have forced payment services out of the country.
“We’re not really a VPN, more of an anti-censorship tool”said a Lantern spokesperson to AFP.
“Traditional VPNs are encrypted, so that censors cannot read the content viewed, […] but they are easy to block for a country like Russia”, he explains. Psiphon and Lantern use more complex methods “to keep our servers undetected.”
The start-ups have drawn on their experience in other countries with authoritarian regimes, from Belarus to Burma.
“Two years ago China changed levels, they went to great lengths to try to block everything. We had to develop new protocols every week. So we were ready for Russia”says the Lantern spokesperson.
Before the war in Ukraine, Moscow resorted more to political intimidation of opponents than to computer methods.
“They weren’t ready to block anything,” remarks Lantern’s spokesperson. “There was clearly a parallel between Russian military incompetence and internet incompetence. »
Russian resistance
According to the various experts interviewed, the Russian authorities have caught up, but the anti-censorship tools are holding up.
And even if they are only used by a small percentage of the population, they are essential to the resistance, they explain.
In March, Russia passed a law punishing “false news” discrediting the Russian military.
According to Natalia Krapiva, arrests remain rare for the moment, but many journalists and activists who have received a first warning from the authorities choose to go into exile.
“Some lawyers remain on the spot and remain silent in order to be able to defend those who continue to speak out. Others leave. A lot of organizations have people there and people overseas, and have to find ways to operate”develops the specialist.
Without VPNs and other tools, it is impossible to organize resistance.
“A lot is happening, online but also in real life”, she says. activists “disseminate anti-war messages or inform about legal means of escaping military service, others try to block trains carrying military equipment to Ukraine”.
It is difficult to know whether maintaining access to the global internet has an influence on the Russian population beyond the pockets of resistance.
“Technology is not a magic solution”, recognizes Natalia Krapiva. “But it’s worse when the internet is completely censored. »
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