Russia's Security Council will convene on Monday to discuss the government's ability to isolate the Russian segment of the internet from the global network during times of crisis, such as military action or foreign-sponsored protests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, confirming earlier speculation in Russian media.
In comments carried by Interfax, Peskov denied that Russia was planning to entirely cut off the Russian Internet — known as RuNet — but said due to the "unpredictable behavior" of the U.S. and EU, "we have to think about how to ensure our national security."
The Russian government has been gradually encroaching on Internet freedoms in recent years, with initiatives ranging from mandatory registration to access public wi-fi to expanding limitations from the country prohibitive media law to individual internet blogs.
This year has seen the introduction of laws that allow authorities to issue arrest warrants for publishing "extremist material" online, and another forcing foreign internet companies to store Russian data on Russian soil, enabling Russian security services to access the servers at will.
On Friday, Russian lawmakers voted to move the deadline for storing data in Russia forward to January next year from September 2016.
INC News, 20/09/2014
No comments:
Post a Comment