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Russia's mobile internet whitelist is nearly full at 900 sites

Russia's whitelist of sites that keep working during mobile internet restrictions has hit 900 entries. The digital minister says it can't grow forever.

A smartphone held in a hand showing a mobile signal indicator, illustrating restricted mobile internet access.
Image: 3DNews - Daily Digital Digest
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Russia's mobile internet whitelist is running out of room. The list of sites and services that still load when mobile internet is restricted now holds 900 resources, and the digital development minister says it is close to its limit.

Maksut Shadayev, who heads the Ministry of Digital Development, said the list cannot be endless. In his words, as quoted by Interfax: "There are, naturally, limits on the whitelist, it cannot be infinite. There are technical limits for telecom operators." In other words, the carriers have to configure and maintain every entry, and that does not scale without end.

What is the Russian whitelist?

It is a list kept by the ministry of services that stay reachable while mobile internet is restricted. Shadayev reminded reporters that it is supposed to include the services most popular with Russian users.

That rule is now being rethought. The ministry is working to put the lists in order and is changing how resources are chosen. The reason, Shadayev said, is that some services may not be wildly popular but are vital. He named electric vehicle charging stations and medical services as examples. "We are restructuring the approach now," he said.

Who wants more on the list?

The pressure to add more is not new. In June, Anton Nemkin, a coordinator of the Digital Russia party project, said that given public requests, the list should be widened to include more financial, medical and other services.

So there are two demands pulling in opposite directions. People want more essential services to keep working, while operators can only carry so many. The ministry's answer, for now, is to change the selection method so that necessity counts alongside popularity.

The ministry has not said what the new criteria will be, or when they will apply.

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Tags:russiawhitelistmobile internetshutdownsministry of digital development

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