Russian is not a holdout against the global trend. From The Winepress at thewinepress.substack.com:
Russia is also currently rolling out biometric ID verification terminals at businesses courtesy of a Russian super bank.
Russia is becoming the latest country poised to implement digital ID verification checkpoints to access internet content, similar to what the United Kingdom implemented this year, under the pretext of protecting minors from harmful and pornographic content.
In July, the U.K. implemented its controversial Online Safety Act that forces users to upload and confirm their registered identity or provide biometrics to confirm their authenticity to access the majority of content and websites. Not long thereafter, Prime Minister Keir Starmer mandated “Britcard” to purportedly crackdown on illegal immigration and labor.
Russia is doing something similar. In August, The WinePress reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that would penalize and criminalize those who simply search online for content the government deems “extremist,” while also targeting VPN users.
Furthermore, in September, Russia formally rolled-out its all-in-one digital app called “MAX,” explicitly patterned after China’s WeChat app, which is used by the Chinese authorities to enforce its social credit score. Like WeChat, the MAX app, built by VKontakte (VK), combines digital ID, medical records, banking, social media and messaging, and more all into one app. Elon Musk has said that he plans to turn X into an identical super app as well.
We’ll send a recon drone, for now?