Will Trump be unable to call Putin? Russia’s State Duma wants to block 60 international calls for Russians
29 March 14:05
Russian authorities continue to impose bans—and not everyone understands anymore whether these are linked to the war against Ukraine or to the Kremlin’s attempt to shut Russian society inside a controlled information bubble. And while regions far from the center are already living under a block on Telegram and mobile internet, the very first attempt to impose restrictions in Russia’s capital immediately triggered a minor public outcry. Muscovites rushed to actively mock this on the social media platforms available to them. Meanwhile, the announcement that Russians aged 60 and older would be restricted from receiving calls from abroad sparked sarcasm and outrage.
The Russian edition of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty compiled these reactions, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
(Explicit language has been replaced with asterisks; some posts have been shortened)
In Moscow, due to the shutdown of mobile internet and the introduction of “whitelists” for websites, public restrooms stopped working; in St. Petersburg, transit ticket validators stopped working.
Earlier, social media was flooded with memes about paper maps and pagers, which people supposedly started using instead of smartphones. But the shutdown of public restrooms due to the internet blockade seems to have been the last straw for ordinary people.
Dmitry Kolezev
The news of the day is, of course, that pay-to-use restrooms in Moscow have stopped working due to the internet blockade (it turned out that their payment systems operate via the internet). And now their operating company is pushing to have the restrooms added to the “whitelists” so that Muscovites and visitors to the capital can relieve themselves. (By the way, the operator there isn’t just anyone—they’re connected to the family of former Prosecutor General Chaika; you didn’t really think an ordinary businessman could set up a restroom in Moscow, did you?)
Surely, there will now be some kind of meeting at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and officials will be debating: to allow it or not? Perhaps they’ll have to consult with the FSB. After all, this is no laughing matter; times are tough. Could a Ukrainian drone somehow slip through the toilets? Could it turn out that the restroom becomes a breach in the Iron Curtain? You’ll have to answer for that later. I hope they’ll figure it out at Lubyanka. And if not—they’ll definitely decide at the Security Council level. The people there are smart.
Erik Kaipiainen
Public transit is now free in St. Petersburg. The “White Lists” are disabling payment terminals on public transit. An IT specialist took a tram ride and photographed a terminal that wasn’t working due to a lack of internet. How do you completely kill the economy? You just need to kill the internet.
Nikolai Mitrokhin
How a toilet got clogged in an electronic concentration camp: “Public restrooms in Moscow are trying to get added to the ‘white lists.’ Because of the internet blockade, payments aren’t going through, and residents and visitors to the capital can’t use the restroom when they really need to.”
Dmitry Bulatov
At the state level, the issue of adding restrooms to the “whitelists” is being decided. Restrooms, Carl!
Chronicles of the Russian Federation’s new digital reality. Muscovites are complaining that they can’t use the restroom due to internet issues—“card payments aren’t going through.” Public restrooms in Moscow are being urgently added to the “brown” (crossed out) “white lists” so that citizens don’t soil the freshly laid tiles.
But there’s good news too—public transit in St. Petersburg is now free. Not because the authorities have become kinder—it’s just that the terminals on the buses stopped working due to the internet outage. Lol.
Arkady Babchenko
Street toilets in Moscow have stopped working because payment and unlocking are done via the internet, which is down. Right now, the issue of adding toilets to the “white lists” is being decided at the state level. Toilets, Carl! At the state level.
I hope there will be an emergency session—that’s a pun right now, just in case—of the State Duma. Then the Federation Council will put its stamp on a piece of paper. And then Putin will slap his big veto on top of it. In the meantime, dear Muscovites can once again, like when enjoying a delicious ice cream, pee in the stairwells, garages, and on the fences.
On March 23, mobile internet in Moscow started working again. Did they cave to the criticism, or did they finally decide to add public restrooms to the “whitelist”?—Muscovites wonder.
Andrey Zakharov
On the return of mobile internet in Moscow. When Moscow went a week without mobile internet, I noted that there was no reasonable explanation for why this was happening. No, explanations like “it’s CheburNet” or “white lists forever” can be churned out by the dozen, and they may ultimately turn out to be the only correct ones.
RBC reported, citing its sources, that “whitelists” were being tested, but sources at The Bell said the outages were related to “security measures.” “But he doesn’t know exactly what threat Muscovites are being protected from—the decision wasn’t made by the government,” said the publication’s source in the government.
And then this morning—two news items: mobile internet has returned to Moscow, and the FSB reported an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services to purchase drones at a Moscow factory—presumably to later launch them at the Kremlin and other strategic targets throughout the capital. No conclusions, just an interesting coincidence—the comment “this is CheburNet” remains as relevant as ever to all news about the Russian internet.
Putin will no longer be able to speak on the phone with Donald Trump
A wave of sarcasm and outrage was also sparked by reports that the Russian State Duma is preparing to pass a bill that would ban Russians over the age of 60 from receiving phone calls from abroad.
The rationale for this proposed decision is based on the claim that it is allegedly necessary to combat telephone scammers who swindle money from trusting pensioners. And, according to the bill’s sponsors, these scammers call from other countries, specifically Ukraine.
Yuri Shubik
Dear friends: we are in trouble. Our president, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, will no longer be able to talk on the phone with Donald Trump.
Alexey Korolyov
Poor Macron…
Daria Mitina
It would be funny to ban calls from children and grandchildren who have moved abroad to grandmothers during an election year
“In Russia, people over 60 may be prohibited by default from receiving calls from abroad on landlines, and children may be prohibited from receiving SMS authentication codes on their phones. These changes are included in the latest version of the anti-fraud measures package…” – Forbes.
And it’ll be fun in an election year to ban grandmothers from receiving calls from their children and grandchildren who have moved abroad. Well, whatever. The old lady will get over it; she’ll go vote for “United Russia” anyway.
Andrey Nikulin
What can I say—it will essentially be declared that several tens of millions of our compatriots have limited legal capacity…
The next step will be to treat all other Russians like pensioners, also for their own good. And if you need a chance to talk to someone “abroad”—go ahead and write a long, detailed statement. And answer the major’s questions. A perfect and fully realized new 1984.
Did you want the world of the “most delicious ice cream”? Did you want to dive into the past?—well, here you go, and sign on the dotted line.
Alona Solntseva
Now I’m listening to the radio… so, on the radio I learned that there’s no place for the elderly here—it’s been crossed out—they’re planning to “disable incoming international calls to landlines” for old and foolish people over 60 in our country.
I’ve long suspected that soon others—smarter and more far-sighted—will be doing everything for me (and I’m already 60). The only question is that these “smart people” aren’t in their forties either; it’s scary to say, but they’re in their late 60s or early 70s.
However, there are other proposals in the Russian State Duma: to remove age discrimination from the law—by cutting off international telephone service for everyone. Admittedly, this initiative comes from the controversial deputy Andrei Svintsov, who was recently expelled from the LDPR due to “uncoordinated statements about a possible block on Telegram.”
