Moscow is concerned that the media freedom office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) does not respond to Western countries introducing digital censorship via IT giants, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE Maxim Buyakevich said in an interview with Sputnik
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2021) Moscow is concerned that the media freedom office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) does not respond to Western countries introducing digital censorship via IT giants, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE Maxim Buyakevich said in an interview with Sputnik.
IT companies that own such major online platforms as Google, YouTube, and Facebook work in the interests of certain states, the diplomat said, noting that their editorial policy coincides with the that of state institutions of these countries.
"We do not like this, we believe that thus, digital censorship is being introduced 'by hands' of IT monopolists because undesirable resources are simply removed from the network with reference to the policy contradiction. It is, above all, about the US. In general, given that the external information agenda of the US and [other] Western countries coincides, we can say that this is done in the interests of the entire Western conglomerate," Buyakevich said.
The Russian delegation to the OSCE has called on the organization's media freedom office to take note of general political processes in the information space and the development of internet censorship, the diplomat said.
"This process is rapidly advancing, and we do not see that the office somehow reacts to it politically or analytically. We are concerned about it," he added.
Last November, Russian lawmakers have submitted to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament a bill that will sanction online platforms for various forms of censorship against Russian media and citizens.
