After Russia blocked access to Meta"s Facebook and Instagram platforms, demand for VPN apps is now skyrocketing in Russia as a tool to bypass the restrictions. The decision to ban Meta"s platforms came after Meta"s decision to allow users in Ukraine to post messages like "Death to the Russian Invaders" and more. Facebook was also partially banned in Russia because Meta had added restrictions to Russian state media channels on its platforms.
According to data monitoring firm Top10VPN, the demand for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) rose to around 2088% higher on March 13, as compared to the daily average demand in mid-February.
As Russia is being targeted by sanctions from the West every day, more and more websites are getting restricted in Russia. Analysis done by Top10VPN also shows that Russia has also blocked over 300 websites related to the war, including BBC News, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America Russian-language sites.
Source: Reuters