Putin Says Russia Not Moving Toward Restricting Internet
Russia is not moving toward restricting the access to the global computer network, and the concepts of free and sovereign Internet do not contradict each other, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday
On May 1, Putin signed into law a bill on the sustainability of the Russian segment of the Internet in case the country gets disconnected from the global network. The legislation enables Russian government agencies the opportunity to centrally administer Internet and communications networks in case of a security threat from abroad. The draft law was introduced by Russian lawmakers in response to the "aggressive" US National Cyber Strategy released last year.
"The concepts of 'free' and 'sovereign' Internet do not contradict each other, because that law pursues only one goal to prevent negative consequences due to the possible disconnection from the global network, the control of which is largely based abroad. That's what we are talking about, this is sovereignty we have our own resources that can be included so that our access to the Internet is not cut off. The meaning of this law is just this, and, therefore, there are no restrictions," Putin said during his annual press conference.
"We are not moving toward the closure of the Internet and are not going to do this," he added.