When she's riding Saint Petersburg's metro, Katerina* sometimes sneaks a peek at other people's phones.
"I see a lot of news like Komsomolskaya Pravda and other pro-state media," she told the ABC.
VKontakte — a social media platform effectively owned by the Russian government — is also popular.
That's not surprising. Major Western brands like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube were blocked years ago. Independent news is also off limits.
Last week,the country's censorship controls got even tighter.
Foreign-owned encrypted messaging platforms WhatsApp and Telegram, used by millions of Russians every month, were partially restricted.
Kremlin sources have reportedly said there's a "99 per cent chance" they'll be totally banned soon.
Instead, people living under President Vladimir Putin's autocracy are being told to join MAX — a new, government-sanctioned product.
Experts expect it to have a "chilling" effect on the country's population, even by the current, repressive standards.
MAX was released in a limited capacity in July.
The previous month, Mr Putin signed a law establishing a national messaging service and that status was subsequently granted to MAX.
A statement at the time warned it would "be pre-installed on certain types of technically complex electronic devices", without providing specifics.
MAX is developed by VK, the same company that runs VKontakte, and VK is controlled by state-linked businesses.
Eventually, it's expected the messaging app will provide a multitude of services and be integrated into everyday life, like China's WeChat.
This week, a press release claimed the number of users on MAX had grown to 18 million.
While it hasn't been fully launched, the push to migrate people onto it is well underway.
The country's telecommunications regulator has warned WhatsApp and Telegram are being used by "criminals", and the Kremlin has already announced people will be able to protect their accounts on Gosuslugi — Russia's answer to MyGov — with codes provided through MAX.
Experts contend the promise of consumer convenience linked to this new app is more about surveillance.
"It is already forced to download and install in schools, and it will track a lot of information," Katarina, who's circumvented Russia's blackout to grow a large following on X, said. "It practically tracks all the information about you."
Joanna Szymanska is the head of programs and strategy for Europe at ARTICLE 19 — a global not-for-profit that advocates for free speech and access to information.
She said forcing people onto MAX would have a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression in Russia.
"If ordinary people are forced to use this state-controlled app for communication, then obviously they can assume their communication will be watched," she said.
According to Mediascope, an organisation that tracks communications in Russia, WhatsApp had 96 million users in the country last month, while Telegram had 89 million.
"This new Russian app is supposed to replace these, and I think that the impact of banning them, given how popular they are in Russia, will be huge," Ms Szymanska said.
China's WeChat, first released in 2011, has become an integral part of people's lives in the country and has become known as a "super app". It can be used to pay for goods and services, read state-sanctioned news, and communicate with friends and family.
But its critics claim it's a "Trojan horse" for the Chinese government to exert further controls over citizens' lives. Even posting about something like a protest can lead to people getting banned.
Experts say Russia's MAX will, ultimately, become the same thing.
It's already facing headaches.
This week, the company behind it issued a statement trying to allay fears its app was randomly turning people's phone cameras on, after online criticism.
Scammers are already using it to defraud unsuspecting users.
Nevertheless, the push to get people on it continues.
Russian rapper Instasamka gushed to her millions of followers this month: "I recently downloaded the Max app. I was just amazed."
Lately, it has been getting more difficult to find ways around the Kremlin's online restrictions.
Tools known as virtual private networks (VPNs) provide a straightforward way to connect to the outside world.
But legislators are closing in.
Some VPNs have already been banned and last month, Russia's parliament adopted a draft law that means people who even search for "extremist" content online can be fined.
"In Russia, extremist basically means any views that are not in line with Kremlin propaganda," Ms Szymanska said.
"For example, anything linked to an anti-corruption movement or LGBTQI rights is classified as extremist.
"VPN bans and these search restrictions are part of a broader digital iron curtain being built. Circumvention tools are the modern-day equivalent of smuggling banned books across borders, as it was in the past."
Officials have made their thoughts clear.
Ekaterina Mizulina has been described as Russia's "self-appointed" internet censor.
She's grown a large online following in the country and is the head of the Kremlin-aligned Safe Internet League.
Last year, she told a group of high-school students that VPNs were "a total portal into hell" and "a big black hole in your device".
Ms Mizulina, 40, has made a name for herself by scouring the internet for content she believes is offensive, denouncing it on her social media accounts and alerting the police.
For example, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she targeted an influential blogger named Nekoglay, who'd posted a parody video of Moscow's soldiers hiding from grenades.
Nekoglay, then 22, subsequently claimed in a video he'd been arrested, tortured and deported to Moldova.
WhatsApp and Telegram have both hit out at the Kremlin's latest restrictions on their platforms.
In a statement, WhatsApp — owned by California-based tech giant Meta — said it "defies government attempts to violate people's right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people".
"We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia."
But if the recent legislative changes are anything to go by, the writing is on the wall for the company, which has already had two of its other major platforms — Instagram and Facebook — completely blocked.
"These types of laws will affect ordinary citizens and not everyone will decide to continue looking for other ways to circumvent censorship online or to continue using circumvention tools," Ms Szymanska said.
Katerina, 31, agrees.
"There are adults who don't have a VPN, they just don't want to bother with it," she said.
*Not her real name
