Demand for VPNs in Russia has risen sharply as the flagship social media platform Facebook and Instagram owned by Meta Platforms Inc., has lost access to Russia and This information was shared by Reuters quoting the internet monitoring organization.
Access to Instagram was blocked in Russia last Monday. The decision comes after the decision taken by Facebook to allow posting hate speech against Russian authorities including the assassination of Putin. In addition, Facebook has already been shut down in Russia in protest of blocking Russian media on Facebook.
Demand for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in Russia has risen by 2088 percent since mid-February, when access to Facebook and Instagram was cut off. The watchdog’s top 10 VPNs report that the country’s citizens are using these VPNs to access data encrypted and blocked services.
Meanwhile, cyber-attacks on Russian and Ukrainian websites are on the rise. Allies, including both countries, have reportedly been carrying out cyber-attacks on their rivals’ websites.
Russia banned several VPNs last year. However, they could not be stopped completely.