Russians should learn to use internet to monitor authorities’ work – Medvedev

(Interfax – Moscow, 21 November) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev believes that the public should learn to use the internet to monitor the activities of the authorities.

“The internet gives us the opportunity to express our views of various issues, to take part in discussions and the monitor the work of the authorities. It is important to learn to use these new tools in full,” Medvedev wrote on his page in Facebook to congratulate the winners of the Runet (Russian sector of the internet) Awards.

There have been many discussions in society recently about the possibility and admissible scale of control over the internet. Reports about a possible ban on YouTube caused an uproar in the press and online on Wednesday (21 November). A day earlier, One Russia (United Russia) MP Ilya Kostunov said in an interview to (pro-government Russian newspaper) Izvestiya that iOS and Android programs (as received, should be “operating systems”) threatened Russia’s national security. (Passage omitted)