Under the law, Internet providers will be ordered to block websites that offer VPNs and other proxy services. Russians frequently use such websites to access blocked content by routing connections through servers abroad.
A second law also signed by Putin on July 29 -- and published July 30 -- will require operators of instant messaging services, such as messenger apps, to establish the identity of those using the services by their phone numbers.
This law, set to take effect on January 1, 2018, will also require operators to restrict access to users at the authorities' request if the users are disseminating content deemed illegal in Russia.
Russian authorities in recent years have escalated efforts to prosecute Internet users for online content considered extremist or insulting to religious believers.
In one recent high-profile case, a Russian blogger was convicted of inciting hatred and insulting religious believers' feelings with videos he posted on YouTube -- including one showing him playing Pokemon Go in a church.
The blogger, Ruslan Sokolovsky, was handed a 3 1/2 year suspended sentence that was later reduced by more than a year.
Sokolovsky was also added to an official list of "terrorists and extremists" maintained by Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service.
