 (1).png){kind=spacer}
3 months ago
7
The White House urged Google, Microsoft and other major U.S. tech companies to increase access to state-funded software that helps Russians bypass online censorship, Reuters reported Thursday.
In response to Moscow’s growing crackdown on wartime dissent, the U.S. government-backed Open Technology Fund (OTF) has been financing several American firms to offer free virtual private networks (VPNs) to Russians.
OTF president Laura Cunningham told Reuters that the demand for VPNs — used to access blocked websites by masking users’ locations — has skyrocketed, driven primarily by users in Russia and Iran.
“For a decade, we routinely supported around nine million VPN users each month, and now that number has more than quadrupled,” Cunningham said, estimating that 46 million people a month now rely on U.S.-backed VPNs.
OTF met with representatives from Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft and Cloudflare to encourage them to provide discounted or subsidized server bandwidth for VPN services, according to the report.
“We want to support these additional users, but we don’t have the resources to keep up with this surging demand,” Cunningham said.
A Cloudflare spokesperson said the company was collaborating with researchers to “better document internet shutdowns and censorship,” while other companies did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
U.S. government funding, provided through OTF, has become crucial for VPN providers operating in Russia, as sanctions have increased costs and reduced revenue. Demand for VPNs spiked again this summer as Russian users reported slowdowns on YouTube, seemingly due to state efforts to restrict access to the platform.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Continue
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.
