Where The Global Internet Has Been Restricted

Statista: Where the Internet Has Been Restricted  

The arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in Pakistan yesterday has led to nationwide uproar and protests. In the city of Peshawar, a local hospital has reported three people being shot dead and a further 27 suffering injuries. In the state of Punjab, where the army was deployed, officials said that 945 arrests had been made and 130 police officers injured.  

Read more ....  

Update: Where The Internet Has Been Restricted (Zero Hedge) 

WNU Editor: I had to laugh when I saw the above map. WNU is banned from posting on Facebook. But according to the above post the US and Canada (where I live) there are no internet restrictions.

For A Second Time This Month North Korea's Websites Are Down

Kim Jong Un sits at a computer workstation at the E-Library at the KPA Exhibition of Arms and Equipment. Rodong Sinmun  

Business Insider: North Korea recently disappeared from the internet for a little while, and it looks like it has happened again 

* For at least the second time this month, all of North Korea's websites appear to have gone down. 

* Experts have said the outages may be the result of cyberattacks against North Korea, though there are other possible explanations. 

* North Korea saw intermittent outages around Jan. 14 that crippled all of the country's websites. 

North Korea seemed to disappear from the web for a period on Tuesday, an NK News reporter first noticed. 

Insider also found that several North Korean sites appeared to be down. 

North Korean domain names ending in ".kp," which include websites for North Korea's state-run media outlets, apparently first went down sometime before six in the morning, NK News senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko reported. 

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Cyber attack. Bad security protocols and/or bad software in general. Out of date servers. Electricity blackout. There are many reasons why this has has happened.

Detailed Images Of Sensitive Israeli Sites Are Now Online

We can finally provide 50 cm imagery over Israel and Palestine. Read about the new imagery from @Maxar in our latest blog post: https://t.co/bmFEJv5Yia pic.twitter.com/ZGgrzZYQm7

— Mapbox (@Mapbox) October 26, 2021

Times of Israel: Detailed images of sensitive Israeli sites, including nuclear plant, now online 

Trump-era change in US law means high-quality commercial images available; security experts warn it could make Israel more vulnerable 

Detailed images of sensitive sites in Israel, such as the Dimona nuclear reactor, are now widely available online due to a Trump-era change in regulations that previously effectively censored satellite images produced by private US companies. 

The Kyl–Bingaman Amendment had regulated the resolution of publicly available satellite images for Israel since 1997, until the surprise change in legislation last year. The amendment had effectively imposed US government censorship on commercial images of Israel, an example of which is the fact that Israeli images on Google Maps often appear blurred in a way that they are not in other countries.  

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WNU Editor: It is hard to believe that a few decades ago these satellite images would be classified as ultra top secret. No more now. You can get these images for free on your cell phone.

These Countries Have Admitted That They Have An Internet Kill Switch

Organic Prepper: These Countries Have an INTERNET KILL SWITCH (and They Admit It)  

What do you suppose would happen if the President of the United States deemed it necessary, for “national security,” to flip the Internet Kill Switch? In these digital times, there should be great concern over something like this. However, normalcy bias seems to have a firm hold on a majority of the citizens of the US, and many are clinging to the “it can’t happen here” theory. 

The United States has yet to employ this particular tool. However, according to data gathered to examine the financial impact of internet shutdowns, since 2019, there have been 237 major internet shutdowns in 45 countries.  

What is an internet kill switch? 

An internet kill switch is a device/software/configuration that allows one to shut down all internet access within a region or country indefinitely. If activated, the kill switch would prevent everyone from checking social media, shopping online, using online messenger services, sending emails, or anything else involving an internet connection. 

In many cases, this may also include any form of phone contact (it varies).  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: I take it for granted that every country can shut down their communications, internet included, if push came to shove that such a drastic action must be taken. The question that remains unanswered is .... how long will it take to shut it down.

Government Internet Shutdowns Conitnue To Grow More Common

Axios: Government internet shutdowns grow more common and costlier 

Once rare, partial or total internet shutdowns engineered by governments have become a near-daily occurrence somewhere in the world. 

Why it matters: Such shutdowns pose a threat to human rights and are also costing the global economy billions of dollars per year, according to a new report from nonprofit Access Now and Jigsaw, a unit of Google parent Alphabet.  

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: The report on the frequency of governments shutting down their internet is here .... The Current (Jigsaw). 

More News On The Growing Trend Of government Internet shutdowns  

Internet shutdowns by governments have ‘proliferated at a truly alarming pace’ -- The Verge  

Government internet shutdowns are more dangerous in a pandemic -- Fast Company  

New report brings attention to threat of internet shutdowns -- The Hill  

Internet shutdowns: The new authoritarian weapon of choice -- Protocol

Russian Successfully Tested Disconnecting Itself From The Global Internet

Фото: Сергей Киселев / АГН «Москва»  

Insider: Russia disconnected itself from the rest of the internet, a test of its new defense from cyber warfare, report says 

* Russia tested disconnecting itself from the global internet, Russian outlet RBC Daily said. 

* It said the disconnect happened from mid-June to July, though Insider couldn't verify that. 

* Russia has wanted total control over the internet, to avoid US firms and potential cyber attacks. 

Russian successfully tested disconnecting itself from the global internet, according to a report by the RBC Daily business newspaper.

RBC Daily says it obtained documents and spoke to sources who told them that the tests were conducted from June 15 to July 15 — and worked. 

One source told the outlet that the tests included Russian physically disconnecting its networks from the worldwide internet. 

Reuters says it's unclear how long the disconnection lasted or whether it was noticeable to Russian residents.  

Read more ....  

Update: Russia ‘Successfully Disconnected’ From World Wide Web in Tests – RBC (Moscow Times)  

WNU Editor: Not related, but here is an interesting story .... The world’s biggest ransomware gang just disappeared from the internet (MIT Technology Review).

Global Web Outage Knocks Out Major Websites

Hundreds of websites worldwide are down this morning - with Amazon, Spotify and Amazon all experiencing issues. Millions of users across the globe have reported problems trying to access web pages, with Netflix, Twitch, and Pinterest also affected by the outage. While the reason for the crash remains unclear, it is likely the issue is with Fastly - a content delivery network (CDN) company that helps users view digital content more quickly. 

Daily Mail: The day the internet broke: Hundreds of websites worldwide including CNN, NYTimes, Amazon and Reddit go DOWN after outage at US server company Fastly 

* Amazon Web Services, Spotify, CNN, PayPal, Reddit and others all went down on Tuesday morning suddenly 

* It was caused by an outage at Fastly, the Content Distribution Network (CDN) used by millions of businesses 

* A CDN is a network of global servers that work together to provide faster internet loading speeds

* Many websites use them because they allow a quick transfer of HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, and videos 

* Fastly said the outage was caused by a service configuration that triggered the 'disruptions' - they've now disabled the configuration, they say 

* The company won't say what the service configuration was, or if they initiated it 

* Most of the websites were back online within a few hours of the shortage 

Hundreds of websites around the world went down this morning including CNN, The New York Times, Amazon, Shopify, PayPal, Reddit, the White House and British Government websites after a 'service configuration' at their server provider Fastly triggered mass outages. 

It's unclear what the configuration was or whether or not Fastly intended for it to happen but it took three hours for it to be resolved, during which time government websites, media outlets and online shopping sites experienced huge problems. 

The company won't say what the configuration is, or if they deliberately initiated it.  

Read more ....  

Update #1: Global glitch: Swaths of internet go down after cloud outage (AP)  

Update #2: Websites rumble back to life after Fastly-linked outage (Reuters)  

WNU Editor: A sobering incident that reminds all of us on how vulnerable the internet really is.

Are Russian Submarines Tampering With Undersea Cables?

National Interest: Could Russian Submarines Be Tampering With Undersea Cables? 

The ability of an American user to access a website in Europe or vice versa largely depends upon a network of several hundred distinct armored, fiber-optic Submarine Communication Cables that run across around six hundred thousand miles of ocean floor. 

Here's What You Need to Remember: The U.S. has begun responding to the threat, with 2018 defense budget authorizing construction of a second cable-laying/repair ship costing $250 million to supplement the only one currently in U.S. military service, the USS Zeus. Sanctions imposed on Russia in June 2018 have targeted a Russian mini-submarine builder associated with cable-tampering operations.

In 2018 reports have multiplied in the United States and Europe that Russian has intensified its submarine activity around the undersea cables which are essential for the global operation of the internet. 

Yes, you heard that right—the ability of an American user to access a website in Europe or vice versa largely depends upon a network of several hundred distinct armored, fiber-optic Submarine Communication Cables that run across around six hundred thousand miles of ocean floor—and Moscow is dispatching mini submarines apparently to tamper with them.  

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WNU Editor: There are many redundancies in the world's fiber cable network. To be successful to cut-off all communications Russia (or anyone else) will need to conduct a massive attack at the same time. I do not think any country has that capability right now. As to tapping into and monitoring communications ... now that is another story.

The world's cable network map can be seen here (link here).

Pentagon Transfers 175 Million Internet Addresses To A Firm In Florida

An Airman is seen checking military network equipment in a file photo. The Pentagon created the internet, and still owns a huge chunk of Internet Protocol addresses 

Daily Mail: 'It's the biggest thing in the history of the internet': Pentagon quietly transfers 175 million internet addresses worth $4BILLION to mysterious firm at shared workspace in Florida 

 * Transfer of idle DoD IP addresses took place minutes before Trump left office 

 * Huge swathe of 175 million addresses accounts for 4% of the entire internet 

 * They are now under the control of mysterious Global Resource Systems LLC 

 * Company's address is listed in a co-working space above a bank in Florida 

 * Reporter who visited the address found no representative and was told to leave 

 * Now Pentagon says it is running a 'pilot' to 'identify potential vulnerabilities' 

A very strange thing happened on the internet the day President Joe Biden was sworn in. 

A shadowy company residing at a shared workspace above a Florida bank announced to the world´s computer networks that it was now managing a colossal, previously idle chunk of the internet owned by the U.S. Department of Defense. 

That real estate has since more than quadrupled to 175 million addresses - about 4 percent the size of the entire current internet. 

It's also more than twice the size of the internet space actually used by the Pentagon.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: I have two questions over this transfer of 175 million internet addresses. Why the Pentagon chose this company, and why now after these 175 million IP addresses have been dormant for years. 

More News On The Pentagon Transferring 175 Million Internet Addresses To A Firm In Florida  

The Big Pentagon Internet Mystery Now Partially Solved -- AP  

Pentagon gave control of millions of dormant IP addresses to Florida company before Trump left office: report -- The Hill  

Minutes before Trump departed office, a mysterious Florida company reportedly took over a slice of the Pentagon's internet space -- Business Insider  

The Pentagon gave a company control of 175 million IP addresses -- Endgadget

"This Is Massive": Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over 'Chunk' Of Pentagon's Internet In Inauguration Day Mystery -- Zero Hedge

Trust In Technology Companies Fell All Around The World Last Year

Axios: Exclusive: Trust in tech craters 

Trust in tech — including companies specializing in AI, VR, 5G and the internet of things — fell all around the world last year, the Edelman Trust Barometer found in a massive survey of 31,000 people in 27 countries. 

Driving the news: The study, provided first to Axios, is a special tech edition of data collected for the annual Trust Barometer. All-time lows, going back to comparable Edelman polling in 2012, were hit in 17 of 27 countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, China, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico. 

Why it matters: High public esteem has helped protect the tech industry from critics and regulators, but that shield is weakening. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: While trust in tech companies in falling around the world, a lot of people still trust these companies. In my case I did not only trust these companies but I also openly supported them. That all changed when this happened .... It Appears That Google Has A Black List Of Conservative Sites (War News Updates Is On The List) (July 22, 2020). I now want to see them broken up.

35 Countries Have Restricted Access To The Internet Or Social Media Platforms At Least Once Since 2019

Axios: Internet blackouts skyrocket amid global political unrest 

Where there’s a coup, there will probably be an internet outage. 

Why it matters: Internet disruptions in Myanmar early Monday morning coincided with reports that top politicians, including the country’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were being rounded up by the military. That’s no surprise: internet blackouts are now common around the world when power hangs in the balance. 

The big picture: At least 35 countries have restricted access to the internet or social media platforms at least once since 2019, according to Netblocks, a group which tracks internet freedom. Authorities have used the outages to reduce or prevent unrest — or to hide it from public view. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: China is not on the above map?!?!?? There are a lot of social restrictions in China. And the internet in places like Tibet and Xinjiang are limited. Ditto in places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Syria. etc..

Is The U.S. About To Impose Net Neutrality?

Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) 

Washington Post: Pressure builds on Biden, Democrats to revive net neutrality rules 

More than three years ago, Jessica Rosenworcel could only react in horror as her Republican counterparts on the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the U.S. government’s net neutrality rules. 

“There is no shortage of people who believe Washington is not listening to their concerns, their fears and their desires,” Rosenworcel, a Democratic member of the FCC, said in a speech at the time. “Add this agency to the list.” 

Now, Rosenworcel controls the very commission she once criticized for failing to heed the public’s outcry. And her stewardship — along with Democrats’ broader resurgence in Washington — has brought new, sky-high expectations that the party deliver on its past promises, restore open-Internet protections and resolve one of the most intractable policy battles in the digital age. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: I cannot believe that we are going to have this ridiculous debate again. 

The last time this happened I was roasted by some of the readers of this blog on how ignorant I was about net neutrality, and if not imposed would only result in an internet service that would benefit those who can afford it, and punish those who cannot. 

Man-o-man were these proponents of government involvement and regulation completely wrong.

I am old enough to remember when I was overjoyed to have a dial-up service and a 14.4K baud modem to connect to the internet. The progress since then has been anything but miraculous .... and all done without net neutrality. 

And what is even more remarkable is what is in the pipeline. Faster speeds in the gigabyte range, reliable service that is almost present everywhere, and at a price that is incredibly cheap when compared to the past. 

So why do people in Washington want to jeopardize all of this? 

Sighhh .... 

If it is not broken, do not fix it. A simple rule that I do not think that the proponents for net neutrality understand.

Is The Internet Slowing Down?

DNYZ: Surging Traffic Is Slowing Down Our Internet

WASHINGTON — In late January, as China locked down some provinces to contain the spread of the coronavirus, average internet speeds in the country slowed as people who were stuck inside went online more and clogged the networks. In Hubei Province, the epicenter of infections, mobile broadband speeds fell by more than half.

In mid-February, when the virus hit Italy, Germany and Spain, internet speeds in those countries also began to deteriorate.

And last week, as a wave of stay-at-home orders rolled out across the United States, the average time it took to download videos, emails and documents increased as broadband speeds declined 4.9 percent from the previous week, according to Ookla, a broadband speed testing service. Median download speeds dropped 38 percent in San Jose, Calif., and 24 percent in New York, according to Broadband Now, a consumer broadband research site.

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WNU Editor: I am still good here (Quebec, Canada). But I have friends in Spain and Monaco and they are telling me that it is super slow.

Russia Cuts Off Its Internet In A Country Wide Test

BBC: Russia 'successfully tests' its unplugged internet

Russia has successfully tested a country-wide alternative to the global internet, its government has announced.

Details of what the test involved were vague but, according to the Ministry of Communications, ordinary users did not notice any changes.

The results will now be presented to President Putin.

Experts remain concerned about the trend for some countries to dismantle the internet.

"Sadly, the Russian direction of travel is just another step in the increasing breaking-up of the internet," said Prof Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at the University of Surrey.

Read more ....

More News On Russia Cutting Off Its Internet

Russia tests whether its internal internet would still work if it was cut off from the worldwide web – but critics accuse Putin’s regime of mass censorship -- Daily Mail
Russia's test-run for its alternative internet a success, says Kremlin -- The Telegraph
Russia Cuts Off Its Internet, With Mixed Results -- Forbes
Russia’s Internet Is Ready for Isolation, Officials Say After Partial Shutdown -- Moscow Times

Iran Begins Turning The Internet Back After Turning It Off for Four Days

Real-time technical data corroborate reports in #Iran news media that some connectivity is being restored, although only partially.

At the current time national connectivity has risen further to 10%.

Follow our live report for updates on the situation 📰https://t.co/1Al0DT8an1

— NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) November 21, 2019

VICE News: Iran Just Turned the Internet Back on After Four Days of Blackout

Amnesty International says that as many as 200 protesters may have been killed during the shutdown that cut Iran off from the rest of the world.

Iran’s government began reconnecting the country to the global internet on Thursday morning, more than four days after responding to widespread protests about fuel prices with an almost total internet blackout.

Iran has been widely criticized for cutting off access to the internet in a bid to stifle the protests against a 50 percent hike in fuel prices. It’s seen as an effort to prevent the international community from monitoring how the government has reacted to the protests, which began on Friday.

Read more ....

Update #1: Iran begins reconnecting internet after shutdown over protests (Reuters)
Update #2: Iran media reports internet access back after multi-day shutdown (France 24)

WNU Editor: I noticed this Iranian traffic a few hours ago on one of my websites (Bookyards). Does this mean the end of the unrest in Iran? Nope.

Iran's Internet Shut-Down Is Now In Its Fourth Day

"Unlike previous efforts at censorship and bandwidth throttling, the internet of Iran is presently experiencing a multi-day wholesale disconnection for much of its population – arguably the largest such event ever for Iran." says @DougMadory https://t.co/8HE5oClY96

— InternetIntelligence (@InternetIntel) November 18, 2019

BBC: Iran's internet blackout reaches four-day mark

A country of 80 million people - and practically no way to get online. Iran's internet shutdown has lasted for four days now, sparking international concern.

Following protests over a sharp increase in fuel prices in the country, internet connections began to go dark beginning late on Saturday night, local time.

On social media, Iranians living or travelling abroad have shared stories of being cut off from their families and friends back home.

Many are still waiting for news of their welfare.

Alp Toker at internet-monitoring non-profit NetBlocks watched it unfold.

"We detected fluctuations in regional connectivity," he tells the BBC.

"This extended towards having national impact by later in the evening."

Since then, internet traffic in the country has plummeted to 5% of normal levels, according to NetBlocks.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Internet Shut-Down

Iran's internet has been shut down for days amid protests -- CNET
Iranians Struggle Without the Internet -- VOA
Iran's Internet Has Been Shut Off For 4 Days and No One Knows When It's Coming Back -- Gizmodo
The 'internet as we know it' is off in Iran. Here's why this shutdown is different -- Ivana Kottasová and Sara Mazloumsaki, CNN
How Iran's Government Shut Off the Internet -- WIRED

Iran's Internet Has Been Shut Down

Middle East Eye: Iranian authorities shut down internet amid protests

While Iranian state media said calm had been restored, videos on social media showed protests had continued.

Authorities have restricted internet access in Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency said on Sunday, after almost two days of nationwide protests triggered by a petrol price hike.

"Access to the internet has been limited as of last night and for the next 24 hours," an informed source at the information and telecommunications ministry said, as quoted by ISNA.

The decision was made by the Supreme National Security Council of Iran and communicated to internet service providers overnight, the source added, according to AFP.

It came after state television accused "hostile media" of trying to use fake news and videos on social media to exaggerate the protests as "large and extensive".

Read more ....

Update: Iran's 'largest internet shutdown ever' is happening now. Here's what you need to know (CNN)

WNU Editor: One of my side projects is a free ebook library that has been online for over 17 years (Bookyards). We are permitted in every country, with the exception of North Korea. And in the case of Iran we get about 100 visitors each day who enjoy downloading our English classics, but for the past two days we have had nothing. Zero activity/traffic. This is a first from Iran, and it tells me that they do have an internet kill switch that is 100% effective.

Social Media Manipulation Is Impacting Global Elections

The new #FreedomOnTheNet report launches TODAY and finds global internet freedom has declined for 9 straight years. https://t.co/4ZwvGk7RQn pic.twitter.com/FJXbMEFUqe

— Freedom House (@freedomhouse) November 5, 2019

UPI: More nations using social media to spread propaganda, study finds

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- More governments than ever before are using social media to fight opposing viewpoints and spread their own propaganda, according to a new analysis by a Washington, D.C., group that tracks free speech on the Internet.

Nonprofit Freedom House said in its "Freedom on the Net 2019" report, "what was once a liberating technology has become a conduit for surveillance and electoral manipulation." The study examined a nation-by-nation comparison of Internet freedoms and concluded more governments are "titling the technology toward digital authoritarianism."

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The "Freedom on the Net 2019" report is here .... The Crisis of Social Media (Freedom House).

More News On The "Freedom On The Net 2019" Report

Social media manipulation and surveillance diminishing internet freedoms in U.S. and abroad: Report -- Washington Times
Rights Group: Governments Increasing Social Media Use to Influence Elections -- VOA
Domestic online interference mars global elections: report -- Reuters
Your Social Media Is (Probably) Being Watched Right Now, Says New Surveillance Report -- Forbes
Freedom House: Kazakhstan, Sudan, Brazil Top List Of Deteriorating Internet Freedoms -- RFE
About 3 Billion Social Media Users Are Being Spied On by Their Governments -- VICE
The internet is getting less free -- VOX
Disinformation 'works better than censorship,' warns internet freedom report -- Tech Crunch
China Named Worst Abuser of Internet Freedom in Freedom House Report -- Radio Free Asia

Russia’s Sovereign Internet Law Comes Into Force

Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS

Moscow Times: Russia’s Sovereign Internet Law Comes Into Force

Experts say the country lacks the technology to implement the controversial legislation.

When the chairman of Russia’s Committee on Informational Policy, Leonid Levin, stepped on stage in Moscow’s Lomonosov building on Oct. 28 to give a speech during the second All-Russian Digital Forum he couldn’t have chosen a better place. The venue is not just the home of Russia’s fastest supercomputer, it’s also overshadowed by the iconic Moscow State University building, built under Stalin.

He told a specialized audience that Russia’s State Duma is in the process of passing over 50 laws to regulate new technologies in the IT sector, which last year generated almost 5% of GDP and is growing at a rate of 10 to 15%.

The most controversial of them — the so-called sovereign internet law that will allow Russia to cut itself off from the rest of the World Wide Web — came into effect Friday. Thousands of Russians took to the streets in March after the bill passed its first reading in February 2019, and President Vladimir Putin signed it into law in May.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Everyone I know in Russia is against this law. And we all know that the primary reason for this law is to do this .... Controversial new Russian internet law could increase censorship, critics say (Euronews). More here .... Russia's internet law a 'new level' of censorship: RSF (DW).

More News On Russia’s Sovereign Internet Law Coming Into Force

New Russian Law Gives Government Sweeping Power Over Internet -- NPR
Russia enacts 'sovereign internet' law, free speech activists cry foul -- Reuters
Russia officially introduced a 'sovereign internet' law to let Putin cut off the entire country from the rest of the web -- Business Insider
Russia is prepared to stay online amid global blackout as crucial internet law comes into effect -- RT
Russia rolls out its 'sovereign internet.' Is it building a digital Iron Curtain? -- CNN
An Overview of the New Russian Laws Coming into Effect in November -- Moscow Times

Russia Will Test Its Internet Kill-Switch Starting Next Month

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Defense One: Russia Will Test Its Ability to Disconnect from the Internet

The nascent RuNet is meant to allow the country to survive an attack — and Putin to monitor and control the population.

Russia will test its internal RuNet network to see whether the country can function without the global internet, the Russian government announced Monday. The tests will begin after Nov. 1, recur at least annually, and possibly more frequently. It’s the latest move in a series of technical and policy steps intended to allow the Russian government to cut its citizens off from the rest of the world.

“On Monday, the government approved the provision on conducting exercises to ensure the stable, safe and holistic functioning of the Internet and public communications networks in the Russian Federation,” notes an article in D-Russia. (The original article is in Russian. We verified a translation with the help of a native Russian speaker.) “The exercises are held at the federal (in the territory of the Russian Federation) and regional (in the territory of one or more constituent entities of the Russian Federation) levels.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: WNU predicted this 10 years ago .... Kremlin May Tighten Up Internet Use In Russia (July 2, 2019). The Kremlin's attempts to censor the internet in the past few years have also failed .... The Kremlin Has Failed In Censoring The Internet (July 14, 2017). And as for a Kremlin internet kill-switch, this is also nothing new. WNU posted this story last year .... Russia Has A Kill Switch To Disconnect Itself From The World Wide Web (March 11, 2018).