People living in democratic states take the existence of the internet and the possibility to access information for granted. This Western privileged position is challenged by the rise of digital authoritarianism worldwide, where, under the catchphrase of Internet sovereignty, attempts are being made to block the content that the elites consider harmful or dangerous knowledge. One example of this is Russia, where the experiment with the creation of the Digital Iron Curtain was successful, and now they could send their own citizens to the Cyber Gulag. To reach this, Russian state authorities have used various tools, from classical censorship to website blocking (collateral, excessive, wholesale) and internet traffic surveillance. Although the ECtHR has repeatedly ruled (Elvira Dmitriyeva v. Russia; Kablis v. Russia; Bulgakov v. Russia; Engels v. Russia; OOO Flavus and Others v. Russia; Vladimir Kharitonov v. Russia; Taganrog LRO and Others v. Russia; OOO Mediafokus v. Russia) that blocking measures should be ordered primarily by a court or an independent judicial body, the RoskomSvoboda database contains measures taken by several Russian authorities. The presentation embeds the legal basis (Sovereign Internet Law) and practical manifestations of these tools in the conceptual framework of Internet sovereignty.
Keywords: Russia, internet sovereignty, Cyber Gulag, Digital Iron Curtain, website blocking
