Russia Wants To Censor The Internet

from the notice-a-pattern? dept

Get the feeling that folks in Russia are a bit jealous of China's Great Firewall? Suddenly, we're seeing lots of proposals that seem to be designed to limit what folks can do online. Just recently we wrote about efforts to require WiFi users to register with the government, and now Russian prosecutors are trying to extend "anti-extremism" laws to the internet. The laws apparently forbid newspapers from publishing "extremist material," at the risk of being shut down completely. Prosecutors are hoping that an internet version of the law would require ISPs to block access to any sites that include "extremist" content. Of course, extremist content is defined rather broadly. It seems pretty clear that this is just an attempt to try to stifle speech the government doesn't like.

Thank you: http://techdirt.com/