MOSCOW (Realist English). The use of VPN services in Russia will not be considered an offense on its own, but will be treated as an aggravating circumstance if tied to criminal activity, according to Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.
“Ordinary use of VPN technology will not be penalized,” Gorelkin stated. “But if it is used to facilitate a crime — for example, to access extremist content — this will be taken into account as a factor that worsens the offender’s legal situation.”
The remarks come amid growing public concern over draft amendments that introduce fines for accessing extremist materials online. Gorelkin reassured users that Russia is not planning to implement a full ban on VPNs, unlike some other countries.
“Russia maintains a more liberal approach to VPNs compared to countries where such technologies are completely prohibited,” he emphasized.
Still, legal experts warn that the definition of “aggravating circumstance” remains vague and could lead to inconsistent enforcement unless clearly defined in legislation.
In a lengthy comment on social media, Gorelkin addressed a subscriber’s question about algorithm-driven platforms like YouTube:
“If a person doesn’t search for anything, but autoplay triggers a video from a banned channel — does that count? It happened to me personally. I fell asleep watching a gaming video and woke up with a video from a suspicious channel having played through.”
Gorelkin advised users to disable autoplay as a basic rule of “digital hygiene,” especially to protect children from accidentally consuming prohibited content.
He added that the proposed law targets specific materials listed in the official registry of extremist content maintained by the Justice Ministry — many of which are already removed or blocked in Russia.
“Even if a situation like the one described ends up in court, the prosecution must prove intent — that the individual knowingly accessed banned material and used circumvention tools like VPNs to do so,” Gorelkin said. “Honest people have nothing to fear.”
