Russia's Digital Gulag - Moscow Losing its Mind as Digital Darkness Descends!

Silicon Bites Ep306 | 2026-03-24 | Russia has become a Digital GULAG, as Moscow and St Petersburg go offline. People are reverting to papers, paper maps and cash. Privileged urban Russians are losing their minds, as finally some of them wake up to the idea that the government does not exist to serve their interests, and maintain their privileges, but does not in fact give a damn about their comfort. Imagine living in one of the most digitised capital cities on the planet – because that is what Moscow is. A city where you pay for your coffee by tapping your phone, pay for everything that is electronically. Where you hail your taxi through an app, navigate by GPS, send money to a friend in seconds. A city that for years was held up — smugly, loudly, by its defenders — as proof that Russia was modern, thriving, untouched by war, despite an authoritarian government. This was a gilded cage, their argued, so why not just live life and enjoy it?!----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------SOURCES:The Moscow Times — "In Moscow, a Week of Mobile Internet Shutdowns Makes Life a Real Pain," March 13, 2026.The Moscow Times — "Widespread Mobile Internet Outages Are Lawful and Needed for Security, Kremlin Says," March 10, 2026.The Moscow Times — "Mobile Internet Outages Hit St. Petersburg After Days of Disruptions in Moscow," March 9, 2026.NBC News — "Mobile internet blackouts sweep Moscow, leaving residents feeling 'powerless'," March 17, 2026.CNN — "Internet outages disrupt daily life in Russia, fueling fears of a digital crackdown," March 21, 2026.Meduza — "The Kremlin says it's cutting off mobile Internet access for security reasons. Muscovites say they're resigning themselves to regular blackouts," March 10, 2026.Reuters (via U.S. News) — "Kremlin Says Moscow Mobile Internet Outages Are Done for Sake of Security," March 10, 2026.----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------