JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Great Firewall of Russia? Kremlin puts key bricks into place.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir
“Russians have enjoyed a relatively freewheeling internet, but that is likely to change with a new surveillance law. How will the Russian public respond to their online life being closely monitored and constrained?”
“Officially, Russia’s new Sovereign Internet Law is aimed at addressing problems that are vexing governments globally: the proliferation of ‘fake news’ and illegal content, the disturbing reach of extremist voices on the internet, and the threat of cyberattack from outside the country. But Russian free speech advocates and civil society activists say the law has a concerning hidden agenda: to massively boost the ability of authorities to keep track of any social protest movements that may arise, block their ability to communicate via cyberspace,
and shut down whole sections of the country’s internet if they deem that necessary to prevent the spread of unwanted news. … represent[ing] a whole new level of surveillance of the Russian internet and clearly suggest[ing] the direction Russian authorities would like to head. …”