Russia prepares new restrictions on Internet messengers
The Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev said on Friday that Russian youth must be protected from the influence of the Internet and the encroachments of Foreign Intelligence Services.
Because of their "age, ideological and psychological characteristics" young people tend to fall under the influence of "terrorist and extremist organizations, radical youth structures, criminal authorities, religious organizations, and various totalitarian sects," said Patrushev.
He said that this contributes to the harmful activities of Foreign Intelligence Services, "aimed at undermining the moral foundations and the promoting the decay of traditional Russian values."
Patrushev also said that it is vital to block content that promotes extremism, violence, and ethnic intolerance to protect Russian citizens, reports Interfax news agency.
High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova also said that it is necessary to introduce the term "Internet crime" in the Russian legislation. Her other idea was to strengthen the legal regulation of messengers.
Moskalkova said that, at the moment, the legislation is not clear enough and leaves loopholes. One of the examples, she mentioned, is that there are applications for exchanging messages that do not require authorization through a phone number, and corporate messengers, the regulation of which is not defined by law.
According to TASS news agency, the idea has already been supported by the Russian Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building.
The Committee's response to the Moskalkova's project reads that "not the government but commercial companies own the listed types of Internet resources. Obtaining information from them for most countries of the world, including Russia, is objectively limited."
The draft conclusion is expected to be reviewed at the next meeting of the Committee on Legislation on July 22, at which it is planned to hear the outline of the Moskalkova's report before her speech at the plenary session of the Federation Council on July 23.