Vladimir Putin bans use of VPN apps in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo by ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO / AP)

Some websites are prohibited by law in certain countries, but netizens usually find a way around it by using virtual private networking (VPN) apps.

However, a new law officially signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin now bans the use of such internet privacy methods in the country, including VPNs, proxies and tors.

The announcement comes just a few days after tech-giant Apple removed VPN capabilities from its China App Store due to the government’s insistence, according to a Reuters report.

The policy, which takes effect starting Nov. 1, is designed to defend against illegal content rather than enable government censorship.

But Russian internet users are skeptic to the claims and expressed their dismay by protesting on the streets of Moscow last July, when the bill was first proposed.

Meanwhile, President Putin’s ban against VPNs is not the first time he tinkered with Russian users’ internet privacy.

Back in 2014, he passed a bill requiring  internet companies to store the data of  users on government-based servers, allowing them to monitor and censor Russian internet users.  Khristian Ibarrola /ra