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Russia Bans VPNs To Stop Users From Looking at Censored Sites (cnn.com)
Russia is cracking down on software that allows users to view internet sites banned by the government. From a report: President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that prohibits services, including virtual private networks (VPNs), that enable users to skirt government censorship efforts. The law will take effect on November 1. Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor maintains a blacklist of thousands of websites. Leonid Levin, chairman of a parliamentary committee on information policy and communications, said the law signed by Putin does not "introduce any new restrictions and especially no censorship." "My colleagues only included the restriction of access to information that is already forbidden by law or a court decision," he told state news agency RIA Novosti earlier this month.
Russia's very much controlled media. Putin culls dissident reporters, they get stabbed, shot, arrested, if they report his embezzlement, they get charged with embezzlement.
And this just shows how frightened he is of uncontrolled communications. He's frightened what Russians might read about him, or might say about him.
IMHO, Russia is a bigger threat to the west than any other country, and Putin needs to be viewed as an Osama Bin Laden style target. You don't tolerate an all out attack on elections in the west and turn a blind eye to it. You don't watch them offer business deals in exchange for help getting sanctions lifted (e.g. Mooch and his Davos meeting with Vnesheconombank's fund manager) and ignore it like it didn't happen.