Russians go old school: Pagers, walkie-talkies, and paper maps are flying off the shelves. Here's why

Russians are going back in time and using pagers and walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. This is because the country is witnessing internet blackouts without any known reason or explanation. Reports suggest that this could be an indication that Moscow is preparing for censorship to control its citizens' online activities. The sudden outages started around a week ago with complaints coming from central Moscow and St Petersburg, The Guardian reported. Mobile internet went down for most people who were unable to access desired websites and apps. Some even said that they entirely lost their network and couldn't make phone calls. So people are now going old school. Data from the e-commerce platform Wildberries & Russ cited by Russian media shows an increase in the sales of walkie-talkies and pagers. While the former has seen an increase of 27 per cent, pager sales have shot up by 73 per cent. People are even purchasing paper maps since geolocation apps are not working. Their sales have tripled.

Internet outage in Russia

Internet outages have been a recurrent problem for months across Russia, with widespread mobile internet shutdowns happening in various regions. It is only now coming to light since people in the heart of Russia have started experiencing the blackout. The administration addressed the internet shutdown this week, saying that they were necessary for security and will continue for "as long as additional measures are necessary". Russia has already blocked WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube, and Telegram could be next.

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Internet isn't working even inside the Russian parliament

The blackout has hit courier services, taxi apps and retail businesses the most. According to an estimate by Russia’s business daily Kommersant, the internet shutdown in Moscow could cause losses worth 1bn roubles (approx. Rs 120 crore) a day. Lawmaker in Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, also complained of not being able to use mobile phones and non-functioning wifi inside the building. Human rights activists believe Moscow could be preparing to block its citizens from the outer world by letting them access only a set number of websites and blocking the wider web. This is known as the “whitelist” system, where only government-approved internet pages would be available.

Fear of widespread censorship in Russia

According to the Kremlin, the "whitelist" of available websites would include "all resources needed for life". These include places where people could buy and sell items, purchase medicines online and use other delivery services. Experts fear that this is just a ploy to restrict online activity and reduce exposure to world events. Russia has restricted internet access in the past as well, especially after it started a military confrontation with Ukraine. It asserted that it was a way to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks. However, experts said that the move probably did not help stop the drones in any way.