At a youth festival in Yekaterinburg, foreigners were given internet access without blocks

At a youth festival in Yekaterinburg, foreigners were given internet access without blocks

The organizers of the International Youth Festival, taking place at the Yekaterinburg-Expo venue, provided foreign participants with access to websites blocked in Russia, the local outlet Signal. Ural reported.

As journalists found, guests of the exhibition complex have access to three Wi-Fi networks:

✹ a network for foreign delegates, where traffic filtering is disabled;

✹ a channel for Russian participants, where Roskomnadzor blocks are in effect;

✹ a closed network for speakers and organizers.

To log in, a user must enter the personal number from their accreditation badge. The system automatically prevents Russian citizens from connecting to the network for foreigners.

Foreign guests were given special SIM cards with access to “familiar services,” the festival hotline told Agentstvo. Another hotline employee suggested that foreign guests were given free internet access so they could “broadcast their participation, post materials, content, and fill their social media.”

@meduzalive