(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)
The Russian prosecutor's office wants to extend the anti-extremism laws to the Internet, proposing an amendment to the rules that presently govern printed media on the basis of which newspapers considered by the court to have published extremist material can be shut down.
In terms of the new proposal, which began circulating in the State Duma's Security Committee on 10 April 2008, any kind of material considered extremist or website deemed to have hosted extremist material should be blocked by ISPs. If found guilty of repeatedly hosting extremist materials, the website will be shut down. A list of extremist Internet-based materials and sites must be regularly made available and the ISPs will be bound to stop hosting these sites.
The proposal asks from law-makers to clearly delineate "what is unacceptable on the internet in terms of public morality, public safety and anti-extremist legislation" and to "place responsibility for the dissemination of any such materials on those who furnish space for it."
"We are speaking about the self-controlling of the providers and telecommunications companies" said Aleksey Zhafyarov, the deputy head of Directorate supervising enforcement of laws on federal security, interethnic relations and countering extremism.
Internet is considered too free by the Russian governors. Alexander Torshin, the vice-speaker of the Federation Council, has painted a very dark image of the Internet believing it is "a means of terror propaganda" that can be considered "the academy of terrorism." In his opinion, terrorists use the Internet to "practically propagandize their ideas in the open, recruiting new adherents, buying up weapons and munitions, (and) communicating with one another." He said that lawmakers should "work out unified identifying criteria for terrorist websites, formulate techniques to expose them and constantly monitor their activities, nationally and internationally, and also (work out) the means to close these sites."
The proposal has created concerns related to the abuses that such a law might bring forth. "It is difficult to find anyone who is not against extremism but it depends on how the law is used. The government uses (it) selectively" said Oleg Panfilov, director of the Centre of Journalism in Extreme Situations. There have been cases when blogs and websites belonging to the opposition have been shut down after having been labelled as extremist. For example the news website gazeta.ru was warned for using extremist materials last year after it wrote about cartoons that satirised the prophet Mohammed.
Even some of the Russian lawmakers have doubts about the usefulness of any new measures to control the Internet. "We tighten the screws and the situation only gets worse" said Gennady Gudkov, the deputy chairman of the State Duma Security Committee.
Critics also believe that there is enough control already and law enforcement agencies have the means to shut down Internet providers as in the case of the 10 ISPs who were shut down by St. Petersburg prosecutors on 14 April 2008 for hosting extremist content.
Since the beginning of this year, the pressure to regulate the Internet has increased in Russia. In January, Russia's Parliament began work on a law "On the Internet," that should create a legal framework to deal with online matters. In February, Vladimir Slutsker, a Federation Council delegate, introduced a draft normative act that will force all Internet sites with more than a thousand daily visitors to register as mass-media outlets. There is also a project currently in the State Duma that would limit foreign investment in the telecommunications and internet industries.
On 25 April 2008 Russia's lower house of Parliament, the State Duma, passed, nearly unanimously, an amendment to the law on mass-media, in its first reading, giving greater powers to authorities to shut down media outlets. The new law forbids using a registered media source to spread "false facts that discredit the honour and dignity of another entity, or undermine their reputation."
Russian prosecutors eye Internet censorship (23.04.2008)
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzKl0LhCkTUDVEcpowGh9oBfxUQw
Russian Prosecutors Present Draft Law to Regulate Internet (12.04.2008)
http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/04/12/russian-prosecutors-present-d...
Lawmakers in Russia Recommend Internet Regulation (18.04.2008)
http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/04/18/lawmakers-in-russia-recommend...
Russian Authorities Gain Powers to Shut Down Media (25.04.2008)
http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/04/25/russian-authorities-gain-powe...
Russian Prosecutors Ask Parliament to Regulate Internet Content (18.03.2008)
http://www.theotherrussia.org/2008/03/18/russian-prosecutors-ask-parli...
EDRI-gram: Russian Government wants to control all WiFi devices (23.04.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.8/russia-control-wifi