The publication analyzed the registry maintained by the "Roskomsvoboda" project and found that last year access to a total of 523,000 websites was restricted, but 106,000 of them were later unblocked.
According to "Roskomsvoboda," a record number of blocks was set in 2023, when authorities restricted access to approximately 571,000 websites, but ultimately only about 197,000 remained under restrictions.
The Federal Tax Service blocked the most resources last year — by the beginning of 2025, its list included 142,000 blocked websites. It previously also held the leading position in blocks, but the gap from other agencies was significantly larger.
In second place was Roskomnadzor, which blocked access to over 132,000 websites. The third position was taken by the "Unspecified Government Agency," which has 62,000 blocked resources in its registry. The Moscow City Court and other courts collectively restricted access to more than 60,000 websites, as stated in the publication by "Vёрстки."
Since 2022, the focus of judicial blocks has expanded. While previously access was mainly restricted to websites featuring pornography and gambling, the list now includes resources related to so-called discrediting and fake news about the Russian army.
In 2023, Roskomnadzor blocked Signal, Discord, and Viber, slowed down YouTube, and prohibited over 800 tools for circumventing blocks, including the removal of hundreds of apps from the App Store.
From June to September 2024, Apple removed about 60 VPN services, with their total number exceeding a hundred. For instance, the Amnezia VPN app was removed from the Russian App Store just three hours after Roskomnadzor's request. In October-November, the apps of Radio Free Europe and its projects — Siberia.Reality and North.Reality — were removed. Apps from the BBC, Meduza, Dozhd, and other independent media are also at risk.
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