More than 100,000 have signed petition against Russia's anti-terror law
The petition, published on the website of the Russian public initiative, has been supported by 100,098 people; 1,439 people have opposed the petition. Expert decision should be taken less than two months from the day it was sent for consideration, the website says. The package of anti-terrorist laws, drafted by the United Russia Party member of the State Duma, Irina Yarovaya, and Senator Viktor Ozerov, was signed by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, on July 7.
Advocates believe that these anti-terrorist laws violate basic principles of the Russian Constitution such as the right to privacy. Telecommunication companies reported that adopting the law would result in a serious cost increase of cellular communication services and internet in Russia.
In particular, this law requires providers to store information about clients’ data traffic for six months. It will require a significant expansion of data storage capacities and multi-billion dollar investments that may lead to bankruptcy for many internet companies. This law is incompatible with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and totally useless from a technical point of view, the Russian public initiative website says.
According to a poll conducted by Levada Centre, 62% of Russians have heard nothing about the adoption of the so-called Yarovaya package of laws. In particular, Yarovaya’s anti-terrorist package calls for revocation of citizenship or imprisonment for failing to report on crime, increased responsibility for committing terrorist acts, and punishment for crimes of an extremist nature. In addition, the law requires providers to store records of users’ phone calls and messages for six months.