Roskomnadzor and Sanctions: How Could This Affect the Work of This Agency?

This article is a reflection. Many are already tired of Roskomnadzor's pointless fight against "windmills," which they use to justify their existence and explain why they receive salaries from Russian taxpayers.

Previously, their activities would only cause a smile, but lately, they have started causing real harm. Take, for instance, the throttling of YouTube to promote dubious services like RuTube and VK Video. Do you want to watch that? I certainly don't.

Another frustrating aspect is that after failing to block VPN services, Roskomnadzor employees have learned to write to Apple, claiming that an app page violates Russian law and is listed in their registry. Apple, without delving into the details, removes the app from the Russian App Store, as their guidelines require compliance with local laws. To restore the app, you must provide a document from Roskomnadzor confirming that the app complies with Russian law (the lowercase is intentional). This means that to obtain such a document, a VPN service needs to become "subordinated" and share user data with the authorities upon request, without knowing who is behind it.

Google, on the other hand, is in a different situation, as they are in the process of bankruptcy in Russia and simply ignore Roskomnadzor's demands.

The thought arises: if Roskomnadzor were included in the sanctions list, foreign companies would be obliged to ignore their ridiculous demands, and all removed VPN services could potentially be restored in app stores.

I'm not a supporter of sanctions, but I would wholeheartedly vote for including Roskomnadzor in the sanctions list! Essentially, they violate the fundamental principles of democracy and actively hinder free access to information on the internet. And without information, the world becomes authoritarian by nature — hello, China and North Korea!