Thousands Protest Russian Internet Bill

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March 10, 2019

Protests in three Russian cities, including Moscow, targeted the government's recent restrictions on Internet use.

Internet protest in Moscow

More than 15,000 people attended the protest in Moscow, making it one of the largest in the Russian capital in many years, according to an international organization that specializes in counting crowds. The number of people that Moscow police reported to have been at the protest was about half that. Police also denied protesters' claims of detaining anyone who had attended the rally.

Protests also took place in two other cities, Khabarovsk and Voronezh.

Russian lawmakers in February passed a bill that would cycle all Internet traffic and data within Russia government-owned electronic mechanisms. Also a part of the bill was a proposal to build a national Domain Name System. The bill had its first read and was approved, and a second reading is planned for this month. Assuming approval, President Vladimir Putin plans to sign the bill into law.

The government says that the laws will improve the country's cyber-security. Critics charge that the move to create a sovereign Internet is akin to that in China, known as the "Great Firewall."

The government has cracked down on Internet use in recent years, in what some protesters have called the "online iron curtain," a reference to a metaphorical division between East and West during the Cold War. Among the laws passed:

  • Search engines have had to delete some search results
  • Social networks have had to store Russian users' personal data on Russian-owned servers
  • Message services had had to hand over encryption keys to government security forces

Just last week, the Russian government also passed two bills that outlawed disrespecting authorities and spreading "fake news."

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David White

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copyright 2002–2024
David White