China has a stranglehold on its Internet, able to shut down access in specific areas, enforce bans on certain words and images countrywide, and even spy on users.
Russia, isn't nearly as proficient as China is with these underhanded tactics, but they're getting there.
Reuters
In the recent past Russia has taken it upon itself to cut off Internet access in areas where protests flare up. This is something the Indian government has done multiple times as well, and involves pressuring service providers to cut off access. The difference with China is that, thanks to its centralised and censored Internet, they can do that at the flip of a switch.
But Russia is now on the cusp of obtaining that same capability. Just last month, we reported how Putin is planning to "disconnect" the country from the Internet for a time. The official line is that the government is testing Runet's resilience in case of a foreign cyber attack. That they want their Internet set up so they can always ensure access. But, of course, there's a hidden agenda here too.
Also Read:?Putin Is Disconnecting Russia From The Internet, To Fully Check His Nation's Cyber Defense
Reuters
You see, based on this plan, all Internet traffic out of Russia will flow through thousands of government-controlled checkpoints, under the purview of their telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor. Additionally, there will be one central command hub, from where the traffic can be monitored, and even halted.
Also Read:?The Guy Who Built The World Wide Web Is Building A 'New Internet', Where You Control Your Data
Of course we don't need to tell you why that's horrifying. It's exactly what China currently has in place, and it's called digital censorship. Basically, whenever they feel it's required, the Kremlin can cut off access to certain types of content. During protests, that means more effectively blocking news of it from ever leaving a localized area. It also means censoring anti-government news, and a tighter grip on all information.
Freedom House/Flickr
Worse, this will even allow Russia to intercept messages from encrypted messaging apps like Telegram. Built by a self-exiled Russian, Telegram has refused to toe Russia's line as far as censorship is concerned, and as such has faced problems with the government before. And at 30 millions locals use the app for that very reason. But with monitoring boxes on every node, Russia doesn't even need to try and break Telegram's encryption. They can just slow down all of its traffic and watch it die slowly.
And through it all, there'll be no one to stop Putin, because there'll be no one with the full picture from inside the digitally closed-off Russia.