Russia's second-largest internet provider suspends internet services in Russia

It has been revealed that Cogent Communications , which boasts the second largest share of Internet service providers in Russia, has stopped providing Internet connection services to Russian clients.

A new iron curtain is descending across Russia's Internet --The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/04/russia-ukraine-internet-cogent-cutoff/

US firm Cogent cutting internet service to Russia | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-firm-cogent-cutting-internet-service-russia-2022-03-04/

Hundreds of people have died in Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, and more than one million have been evacuated to neighboring countries as refugees. In response, Meta, which operates Facebook, has stopped advertising and monetization by Russian government-related media , and many companies such as Apple and Microsoft have stopped selling products and services in Russia.

Microsoft / EA / CD Projekt Red Stops Product Sales and Service Offering in Russia-GIGAZINE

Following these moves, Cogent Communications announced that it has stopped providing Internet connectivity services to Russian clients. Cogent Communications is a multinational internet service provider based in the United States, and according to CEO David Schaefer, the company is Russia's second largest internet provider. 'We didn't want Cogent Communications' services to be used for cyberattacks and disinformation from within Russia,' said Schaefer, explaining why he stopped the service in Russia.

However, Mikhail Klimarev, Managing Director of the Internet Protection Association , said, 'If you block the Internet in Russia, it means that at least 140 million Russians will be blocked from some correct information. I want to tell people all over the world that they will do it. As long as the internet exists, people can know the truth, but without the internet, Russians will only hear the government's propaganda. By shutting Russia out of the Internet, which is becoming isolated from the international community, we are concerned that the public may not be able to access the correct information.

According to Andrey Soldatov, a Russian jar analyst who authors The Red Web , a book about Internet censorship by Russia, you must increasingly rely on VPN to access services from within Russia to abroad. It seems that he is in a situation. In addition, the Russian government may impose restrictions on VPNs, he said.

However, there seems to be a question as to whether Russia's propaganda reported using state media is working well, according to Czech-based radio station Radio Free Europe , 'shared in Russian all over the world. News articles are more published by other media than articles by the Russian state media. '

The Russian government has blocked access to many foreign media, including the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle and major Ukrainian media. The Russian government also restricts access to Twitter and Facebook.

Russian authorities restrict access to Twitter and Facebook-GIGAZINE

Therefore, it seems that the opportunities for Russian citizens to come into contact with information other than state-owned media will decrease more and more, but it is not possible to assign domain names and IP addresses, operate the Domain Name System (DNS) root server system, etc. ICANN, a commercial organization, has rejected Ukraine's request to 'separate Russia from the Internet,' saying, 'Our mission is to take disciplinary action, impose sanctions, and limit access to parts of the Internet. I don't mean to do that, 'he said, claiming that he does not intend to impose sanctions on Russia.

ICANN rejects Ukraine's request to 'separate Russia from the Internet'-GIGAZINE