To maintain censorship capabilities, Russia is cracking down on the use of VPNs, which let people more easily mask their identity and get around censorship. This move from the government was already known, but the law is being implemented today.

Now that the legislation is being enforced, VPN providers will be required to block sites that have been banned by Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications watchdog. Though enforcing this could prove difficult, especially when a VPN is based outside Russia, it does mean some services are likely to stop being effective for circumventing censorship.

VPN providers that don't register with Roskomnadzor and enforce the ban list within a month will themselves be blocked.