The head of the department, Maksut Shadiyev, said that the Ministry of Digital Development was tasked with limiting the use of VPNs in Russia, but introducing administrative responsibility is a “difficult compromise” and a “direct solution.”
Shadayev pointed out that the Ministry of Digital Development is an executive body and is obligated to carry out the tasks assigned to it. “In this case, the task is to reduce VPN use,” he explained.
The head of the Ministry of Digital Development added that the ministry wants to solve this problem “with the least results and burdens on users.”
“The issue of imposing administrative liability for the use of a VPN was discussed. This is a straightforward decision that we do not like at all. The measures being discussed today represent a difficult compromise. Of course, we understand all the consequences, but all other options are much worse,” he wrote.
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The day before the announcement, Shadaev held two closed meetings on March 28 with telecom operators and large Internet platforms (VK, Ozon, Avito, Wildberry, Yandex). The Ministry of Digital Development proposed that from May 1, operators should charge for the use of more than 15GB of international traffic per month. The administration asked internet platforms not to allow users to access their sites via VPN. According to Kommersant, those who violate these rules were threatened with exclusion from the “white list” of available resources during the Internet shutdown.