Russian Poll Shows Strong Support For Internet Censorship

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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – August 3, 2015)

A new poll shows that nearly three-fifths of Russians would support “shutting off the Internet” in the event of a national emergency.

According to the poll by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), 58 percent of Russians would support such a move, while 49 percent support the idea of censoring the Internet.

The research also found that 42 percent of Russians regularly use the Internet and 38 percent do not use it at all.

Seventy-three percent of respondents said “negative information” about state employees should not be published on the Internet, while 42 percent agreed that foreign governments are using the Internet “against Russia and its interests.”

Forty-five percent of respondents said they support the idea of blocking the websites of foreign media outlets.

Article from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – ©2015 RFE/RL, Inc. Article also appeared at rferl.org/content/russia-internet-poll-favor-censorship/27166695.html

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