Concerns over Internet censorship in Russia

Russia's political opposition is active on the Internet, but maybe not for long. A new youth protection law allows the blocking of websites - and that could take critical opposition sites off the web.

There are no photos, just uninspiring legal texts on zapret-info.gov.ru; it's an unspectacular website set up by Roskomnadzor, Russia's Federal Surveillance Service for Mass Media and Communications.

Since November 1, 2012, people can access the state agency's data bank to check which websites Russian authorities have blocked. Critics are describing the data base as a blacklist. For a time, authorities blocked access to a popular site called lurkmore.to, which describes itself as a humoristic encyclopedia of modern culture, folklore and sub-culture. The site, authorities argued, glorifies drug consumption. Following massive protest, the block was cancelled.

The list is supposed to include websites with content harmful to minors, along the lines of new legislation to protect children signed by President Vladimir Putin in summer. The law aims to help ban child pornography, drug-dealing or details on how to commit suicide from the Internet. "We have the right to protect our children," Putin told Russian TV.

A smokescreen?

The new law is controversial: the German parliament has already expressed its concern. A motion, proposed by the coalition parties and supported by the opposition Greens, was passed on Friday (09.11.2012), saying that a blacklist threatens to become "an instrument to limit freedom of expression and impose widespread censorship on the Internet."

The motion called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to demand greater democracy, rule of law and compliance with human rights in Russia when she meets President Putin.

The topic is also likely to be raised when German and Russian business people, lawmakers and civic groups come together for the 12th annual Petersburg Dialogue in Moscow, which starts on Wednesday (14.11.2012). Freedom of information on the Internet is on the agenda there.

Russia's new youth protection law allows for the blocking of websites. Sites set up by the political opposition may also be affected if their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses coincide with those of websites deemed a threat. In July 2012, authorities blocked access for hours to the website of the prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny. The Internet provider said it was because the site had the same IP address as an extremist site.

Backlash

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Concerns over Internet censorship in Russia