The Russian internet is becoming less free, more isolated from the rest of the world, and on a path resembling countries with strictly controlled online spaces like in Iran.

A recent report by a leading digital rights group in Russia paints a bleak picture of state censorship of the country’s internet. The research, published by Roskomsvoboda, a Moscow-based group that advocates for internet freedom and the protection of digital rights, examined instances in which ordinary Russians found access to the internet limited by the authorities. It counted nearly 440,000 incidents in 2019 where individuals faced some kind of barrier when trying to access information online. 

Obstacles included websites that had been blocked by the government, or the stifling of information by other measures, such as banning people from using the internet and mobile data connections. 

The report highlights concerns from digital freedoms experts that Russia is building its own parallel internet. Around the world, a number of countries are attempting to control online spaces, with China's so-called “Great Firewall” the most obvious example.