Further strictening of Russian internet law passed the legislature Monday, and is expected to further cool Russian internet expression, while Russian President Vladimir Putin explained the law in terms of “the way its done everywhere” to deal with the CIA-initiated internet, and thanked Edward Snowden for playing his part. Under the law, commonly refereed to as the “bloggers law” because the owner of any website–referred to as a “blog” in the language of the bill–with a daily following of 3,000 or more, including social media followers such as those on Twitter and Facebook, will be forced to register a
Russian Law
New Russian Internet Law Against All Bloggers and Providers Passed, Thanks to Edward Snowden and the CIA?
Russian Law Allows Blocking Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Any Other Foreign Site (Feb. 1 Amendment)
Feb. 1, 2014, an amendment to Russia’s “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” law took effect. The amendment allows the government to restrict access to websites with content that calls for riots, extremist activities, and participation in mass public events. The bill is part of a trend in Russian law which began with President Vladimir Putin’s election to a second term in 2012. The amendment in question allows the government to silence not only national criticism–it does this through other laws, such as its 139-FZ (2012) censorship law–but also criticism anywhere else in the world. The measure shields Russia from political
Russian Internet Censorship Law (Passed 2012)
The Russian internet censorship bill, officially titled “On Amendments to Federal Law On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and the Development and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” (139-FZ of 2012-07-28) passed the Russian Duma in 2012. It passed unanimously with support from all four parties. 441 out of 450 deputies voted to support the bill. The bill had raced through the Duma, less than a week after the initial June 6 reading of the amendments and its June 11 third reading and passage. The bill created a registry–or “blacklist.” The registry was a “uniform registry of
