MOSCOW — Russian authorities plan to cut the country off from the global internet temporarily this spring to study how it can operate independently from the outside world.
The news was reported last week by Russian news agency RosBiznesKonsalting, according to ZD Net.
A draft law called the Digital Economy National Program was introduced to Russia's parliament last year.
The law was written to ensure that Russian internet providers can maintain an independent Russian internet space to combat foreign cyber attacks.
Russian companies would be required under the law to install "technical means" to be able to reroute almost all internet traffic to local networks.
In 2017 Izvestia reported that Russia's ministry of communications wanted to decrease the amount of traffic routed through foreign servers to 5 percent by 2020.
The tests will most likely take place before April 1. They are expected to provide feedback and insight as to how the government can work to improve on this new law.
The tests are predicted to cause major disruptions to Russian internet traffic, ZD Net cites Russian news agency RosBiznesKonsalting as saying.
The Russian government has also been providing cash to the internet service providers to upgrade infrastructure and install new servers to redirect internet traffic.
If successful, unplugging the Russian internet in such a way would create a censorship system similar to China's Great Firewall.
Be the first to comment