Hi, this is Katya Krasotkina. Today Vyorstka Published My Story About People Who Help Others Circumvent Roskomnadzor Blocks

Hi, this is Katya Krasotkina. Today Vyorstka published my story about people who help others circumvent Roskomnadzor blocks. Not every Russian can install a VPN or another working solution: not everyone is technically savvy. (To be honest, I myself learned about many of these methods only from talking with experts).

It turns out that there is a kind of educational, and often age-based, qualification for access to the internet: many Russians over 50 run into these problems. Technicians who offer their services on social media and marketplaces smooth out this inequality a little. That is why I was interested in talking to them about their work and motivation.

What surprised me was that among these technicians are people with completely different views. For example, a career military officer who helps, among others, his fellow servicemen. One of the specialists was ready to talk to me as if I were a customer and offer ways to circumvent blocks, but when he found out I was from Vyorstka, he started shouting into the phone:

“As for VPNs: I don’t give a fuck whether they block us or not, in that respect I’m a patriot. It matters a lot to me because I don’t want to destabilize the situation inside my country.”

These are just a couple of examples; there are many more in the piece. Some are driven by conviction and are ready to help people for free. Some do it as a side job, but are afraid of persecution. For example, I scared one ad author so much with my questions that he deleted everything... And of course, there’s no getting around scammers and hustlers offering dubious services.

I hope the piece gives you food for thought about how blocks can be circumvented at all, where to look for helpers for yourself and your loved ones, and how not to get deceived. Or maybe it will inspire someone to become an “agent of the free internet” too.

Read the piece on the Vyorstka website (with VPN):

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Vyorstka

Agents of the Free Internet: Who Helps Russians Circumvent Roskomnadzor Blocks

Dozens of listings on marketplaces may conceal fraudulent schemes