Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2358-C
Stream live here
Russia is pioneering a novel, low-cost approach to digital censorship and surveillance. In lieu of a centralized system to block unwanted online activity, Moscow is pairing old-school authoritarian tactics, such as random searches, arrests, and torture, with software solutions that allow authorities to police people’s digital lives on their personal devices. This system of passive but ubiquitous digital surveillance is rapidly spreading across the country and into territories Russia occupies.
Most notably, Russian software company VK recently launched the MAX app, a superapp that grants authorities wide-ranging access to its users’ location, messages, and internet usage. The Russian government now mandates MAX on and existing smartphones and is banning alternative messaging apps. This policy extends to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine where authorities are carrying out searches to ensure MAX app adoption and uncover illicit devices used to circumvent regulations.
This briefing will explore the implications of Russia’s approach to widescale digital surveillance, including prospects for access to the open internet in Russia and occupied Ukraine. Panelists will also discuss the potential for Russia to export this surveillance paradigm further beyond its borders and strategies to circumvent and counter this approach to repression.
Panelists:
Laura Cunningham, President, Open Technology Fund
Justin Sherman, Founder and CEO, Global Cyber Strategies
Anastasiya Zhyrmont, Policy Manager, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Access Now
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