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talkpoliticsAndrey Lugovoy is a former agent of the Russian intelligence services, now turned businessman. He was the one who was suspected for the murder of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London (the polonium poisoning case). Back in 2006 this scandal brought the relations between Britain and Russia to a new low. The British government demanded that the suspect be extradited to London. The row ended with Lugovoy getting immunity after he was elected MP at the Russian Duma. Now he's virtually untouchable. And he has found a new cause to fight for, and a new enemy of the state to combat: political trouble-makers in the Internet.
Russia to block websites that call for rioting, ‘extremism’ without court ruling
Lugovoy, who is from the party of well-known far-right populist Vladimir Zhirinovski, has now authored a bill that would severely tighten the laws regulating the Internet in Russia. And it is scheduled to take effect just in time for the Sochi Olympics, on February 1. The new law would expand the prerogatives of the security services, which would be able to block websites under the pretext of trying to counter extremism and child pornography (the "protect the children" meme that Putin seems so fond of, lately). But the way the law is phrased, it would also allow to prosecute those calling for protest actions. The social networks have been very helpful in organising popular dissent lately, and the authorities now seem eager to address that threat. After any call for protests in Facebook for example, the telecommunications service will be able to request a full blockade of the entire network in the country, unless the host complies with the order to remove the "disruptive" content.
So in the future, this sign will be getting displayed ever more frequently across users' screens:
Ever since his re-election in 2012, Putin has been expanding his control on the Internet. The presidential elections were surrounded with protests that were mainly coordinated through the social networks. So immediately after the vote, Putin started tightening his grip. In fact the first version of this restrictive law was adopted in the very first months after he came back to the presidential chair.
Facebook has gained enormous popularity in Russia during the protests. The secret services soon realised that they had no idea how to counter the influence of the foreign web providers. Until then, the debates were mostly gravitating around Russian websites such as Livejournal itself, which the Russian services have already gained access to, after it was bought by a Russian company. Now the censorship law will mostly serve as a tool for forcing foreign providers such as FB and Google to cooperate.
According to the latest World Press Freedom Index update, Russia has slipped 6 positions down, and currently occupies #148. Granted, last year the Kremlin shocked quite a few people when they granted asylum to Edward Snowden (there have been claims that he had actually worked as a Russian spy, an unconfirmed allegation which he of course denies). But, while many Russians may or may not indeed view Snowden as some kind of hero, in fact his stay in Russia has not shown any positive effects on the freedom of information in the country. Just on the contrary: the pro-government politicians are now using Snowden's revelations as an excuse to tighten control on the Internet while they still can. The pretext is the protection of the personal data of the Russian citizens from "foreign corporations" (read: US spies). In fact, it seems Snowden has inspired the Russian intelligence services to update their systems in such a way that they have become hard to distinguish from NSA at this point.
Russia to block websites that call for rioting, ‘extremism’ without court ruling
Lugovoy, who is from the party of well-known far-right populist Vladimir Zhirinovski, has now authored a bill that would severely tighten the laws regulating the Internet in Russia. And it is scheduled to take effect just in time for the Sochi Olympics, on February 1. The new law would expand the prerogatives of the security services, which would be able to block websites under the pretext of trying to counter extremism and child pornography (the "protect the children" meme that Putin seems so fond of, lately). But the way the law is phrased, it would also allow to prosecute those calling for protest actions. The social networks have been very helpful in organising popular dissent lately, and the authorities now seem eager to address that threat. After any call for protests in Facebook for example, the telecommunications service will be able to request a full blockade of the entire network in the country, unless the host complies with the order to remove the "disruptive" content.
So in the future, this sign will be getting displayed ever more frequently across users' screens:
Ever since his re-election in 2012, Putin has been expanding his control on the Internet. The presidential elections were surrounded with protests that were mainly coordinated through the social networks. So immediately after the vote, Putin started tightening his grip. In fact the first version of this restrictive law was adopted in the very first months after he came back to the presidential chair.
Facebook has gained enormous popularity in Russia during the protests. The secret services soon realised that they had no idea how to counter the influence of the foreign web providers. Until then, the debates were mostly gravitating around Russian websites such as Livejournal itself, which the Russian services have already gained access to, after it was bought by a Russian company. Now the censorship law will mostly serve as a tool for forcing foreign providers such as FB and Google to cooperate.
According to the latest World Press Freedom Index update, Russia has slipped 6 positions down, and currently occupies #148. Granted, last year the Kremlin shocked quite a few people when they granted asylum to Edward Snowden (there have been claims that he had actually worked as a Russian spy, an unconfirmed allegation which he of course denies). But, while many Russians may or may not indeed view Snowden as some kind of hero, in fact his stay in Russia has not shown any positive effects on the freedom of information in the country. Just on the contrary: the pro-government politicians are now using Snowden's revelations as an excuse to tighten control on the Internet while they still can. The pretext is the protection of the personal data of the Russian citizens from "foreign corporations" (read: US spies). In fact, it seems Snowden has inspired the Russian intelligence services to update their systems in such a way that they have become hard to distinguish from NSA at this point.
(no subject)
Date: 30/1/14 18:35 (UTC)Oh wait. Wasn't that Varys?