Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has officially blocked access to Speedtest, the globally recognized internet performance tool developed by the U.S. company Ookla. The agency asserted that the ban was a necessary measure to protect the country’s national security and the integrity of its domestic internet infrastructure, known as the Runet. Citing security concerns, the government body claims the service could be exploited to facilitate cyberattacks against Russian systems, a move that was preceded by a spike in user-reported outages on Downdetector, a service also owned by Ookla.
In a statement, Roskomnadzor detailed its rationale, alleging that Speedtest collects sensitive data on the “layout and capacity of Russian communications nodes.” The agency fears this information could be weaponized by malicious actors “to plan, conduct, and assess attacks on Russian networks.” This action follows previous tensions between Ookla and Russian authorities. The company was fined in both 2022 and 2023 for failing to comply with local laws requiring the personal data of Russian users to be stored on servers within the country.
As a replacement for the widely used American platform, Roskomnadzor is promoting a domestic alternative called ProSet. The Android application, developed by a government-affiliated agency, is designed to measure data speed, mobile signal quality, and internet availability. However, its adoption has been minimal, with only around 20,000 downloads in the past year and a lackluster average user rating of 2.9 out of 5 on Russia’s app store, Rustore, where it has faced criticism for its poor performance and accuracy.
The ban on Speedtest is not an isolated incident but rather a component of a larger, ongoing effort by the Russian government to assert digital sovereignty. This strategy involves replacing foreign technologies with state-approved domestic solutions and tightening control over the flow of information online. This trend was recently highlighted when U.S. infrastructure company Cloudflare reported that Russian internet providers had begun blocking websites using its services, an action seen as part of Moscow’s push to isolate its digital infrastructure.
Looking ahead, this pattern of digital isolation appears set to continue, with reports that authorities are considering a ban on WhatsApp, one of the nation’s most popular messaging apps. In its place, officials are promoting a new domestic platform called “Max,” which is currently in its testing phase. This mirrors China’s state-integrated WeChat model and signals Russia’s determined push toward creating a more controlled and self-contained national internet, firewalled from the global digital ecosystem.
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