Internet Censorship in Russia: Phone Booths Proposed to Bridge Blackouts

Internet shutdowns and a proposal to revive phone booths

Moscow. As internet disruptions multiply across Russia, a member of the Kremlin-aligned United Russia party has proposed reinstalling public telephone boothsthis time equipped with internet access. Duma deputy Igor Antropenko told the state news agency Tass that such booths would help citizens stay connected during planned or ad-hoc blackouts and would provide an appropriate level of security.

Residents of Moscow have reported widespread connectivity problems for days, with outages disrupting everyday services. In many places, point-of-sale systems have reverted to cash-only, and smartphone apps for gyms, banks, courier services and taxi providers are failing to work. The problem is not confined to the capital: other cities and entire regions have also experienced intermittent or prolonged offline periods.

The Kremlin says the shutdowns are a necessary response to Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week that the cutoffs are required for as long as necessary. At the same time, the Russian state has steadily tightened control over online information since the start of the war more than four years ago, increasing censorship and restricting access to foreign and domestic services.

Multiple messaging platforms and numerous websites are blocked inside Russia or require virtual private networks (VPNs) to accesstools that the government is increasingly trying to curtail. Authorities have escalated measures beyond blocking: searches for materials labeled extremist can carry penalties, and many internet resources critical of the government have been branded as such. One prominent example is the Anti-Corruption Foundation associated with opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in custody; the organization has been designated extremist.

The phone-booth idea reflects a practical response to a political problem: when networks are throttled or severed, citizens lose access to commerce, communications and emergency information. Reintroducing public access points would be costly and logistically complex, requiring secure backhaul and hardware resilience against both technical failures and political interference. But proponents argue the booths could act as a stopgap to preserve some public connectivity and transactional functionality in a climate of recurring shutdowns.

Whether the proposal moves beyond rhetoric remains uncertain. It highlights how information control is increasingly baked into state security policy and how ordinary lifefrom paying for goods to hailing a ridebecomes vulnerable when digital infrastructure is weaponized or politicized. For businesses, service providers and international observers, the trend raises questions about operational continuity, compliance risk and how to support users in high-control environments.

In the short term, Russians will continue to adapt with workarounds where possible; in the longer term, the debate over phone booths underlines broader tensions between state control and citizens access to digital services that are central to modern economic and social life.