Just
weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a
special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the
restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have
been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The
idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one
nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more
governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as
recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those
in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they
can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the
Russian government’s already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what’s
become known as the “bloggers law,”
which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for
larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is
required to register with the Roskomnadzor,
Russia’s media oversight agency.  
Just
weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a
special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the
restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have
been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The
idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one
nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more
governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as
recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those
in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they
can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the
Russian government’s already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what’s
become known as the “bloggers law,”
which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for
larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is
required to register with the Roskomnadzor,
Russia’s media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without
Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs
and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be
responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any
inaccurate comments, and they’re forbidden from harming the reputation of a
person or group or using their platform to “hide
or falsify information of general interest.”  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous
anymore.
A
senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor
says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if
they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country
for refusal to cooperate.
The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000
or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under
their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the
Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or
anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law
will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However,
the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of
blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies
to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based
outside Russia.

Deputy
head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov
said that this would not matter.

“The
law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone
writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian
Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention
and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the
law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed
to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the
Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online
conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.
Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have
taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of
strength in Ukraine.
The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of
Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei
Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the
law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for
democracy in Russia and even ran for
president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against
Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.
The law does not specify how the government will count site
visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging
platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public
traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the
government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media
outlets.
The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily
run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on
Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.
But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our
counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world
know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law
might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does
more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian
Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.
It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain
popularity. There are those who use ‘pen
names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish
their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing
laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be
noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to
be fined, with individual violators being fined
between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange
rate), while “legal entities” will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).
While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe
and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining
momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many
countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through
oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind
words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    
Just
weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a
special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the
restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have
been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The
idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one
nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more
governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as
recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those
in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they
can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the
Russian government’s already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what’s
become known as the “bloggers law,”
which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for
larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is
required to register with the Roskomnadzor,
Russia’s media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without
Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs
and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be
responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any
inaccurate comments, and they’re forbidden from harming the reputation of a
person or group or using their platform to “hide
or falsify information of general interest.”  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous
anymore.
A
senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor
says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if
they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country
for refusal to cooperate.
The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000
or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under
their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the
Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or
anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law
will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However,
the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of
blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies
to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based
outside Russia.

Deputy
head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov
said that this would not matter.

“The
law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone
writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian
Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention
and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the
law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed
to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the
Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online
conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.
Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have
taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of
strength in Ukraine.
The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of
Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei
Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the
law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for
democracy in Russia and even ran for
president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against
Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.
The law does not specify how the government will count site
visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging
platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public
traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the
government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media
outlets.
The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily
run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on
Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.
But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our
counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world
know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law
might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does
more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian
Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.
It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain
popularity. There are those who use ‘pen
names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish
their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing
laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be
noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to
be fined, with individual violators being fined
between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange
rate), while “legal entities” will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).
While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe
and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining
momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many
countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through
oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind
words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    
Just
weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a
special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the
restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have
been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The
idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one
nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more
governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as
recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those
in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they
can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the
Russian government’s already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what’s
become known as the “bloggers law,”
which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for
larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is
required to register with the Roskomnadzor,
Russia’s media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without
Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs
and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be
responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any
inaccurate comments, and they’re forbidden from harming the reputation of a
person or group or using their platform to “hide
or falsify information of general interest.”  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous
anymore.
A
senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor
says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if
they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country
for refusal to cooperate.
The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000
or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under
their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the
Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or
anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law
will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However,
the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of
blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies
to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based
outside Russia.

Deputy
head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov
said that this would not matter.

“The
law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone
writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian
Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention
and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the
law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed
to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the
Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online
conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.
Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have
taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of
strength in Ukraine.
The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of
Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei
Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the
law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for
democracy in Russia and even ran for
president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against
Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.
The law does not specify how the government will count site
visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging
platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public
traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the
government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media
outlets.
The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily
run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on
Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.
But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our
counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world
know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law
might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does
more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian
Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.
It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain
popularity. There are those who use ‘pen
names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish
their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing
laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be
noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to
be fined, with individual violators being fined
between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange
rate), while “legal entities” will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).
While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe
and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining
momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many
countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through
oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind
words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    
Just
weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a
special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the
restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have
been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The
idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one
nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more
governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as
recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those
in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they
can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the
Russian government’s already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what’s
become known as the “bloggers law,”
which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for
larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is
required to register with the Roskomnadzor,
Russia’s media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without
Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs
and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be
responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any
inaccurate comments, and they’re forbidden from harming the reputation of a
person or group or using their platform to “hide
or falsify information of general interest.”  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous
anymore.
A
senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor
says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if
they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country
for refusal to cooperate.
The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000
or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under
their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the
Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or
anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law
will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However,
the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of
blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies
to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based
outside Russia.

Deputy
head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov
said that this would not matter.

“The
law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone
writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian
Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention
and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the
law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed
to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the
Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online
conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.
Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have
taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of
strength in Ukraine.
The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of
Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei
Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the
law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for
democracy in Russia and even ran for
president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against
Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.
The law does not specify how the government will count site
visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging
platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public
traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the
government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media
outlets.
The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily
run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on
Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.
But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our
counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world
know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law
might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does
more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian
Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.
It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain
popularity. There are those who use ‘pen
names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish
their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing
laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be
noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to
be fined, with individual violators being fined
between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange
rate), while “legal entities” will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).
While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe
and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining
momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many
countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through
oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind
words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.   According to Reporters Without
Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs
and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be
responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any
inaccurate comments, and they’re forbidden from harming the reputation of a
person or group or using their platform to “hide
or falsify information of general interest.”  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous
anymore.
A
senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor
says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if
they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country
for refusal to cooperate.
The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000
or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under
their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the
Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or
anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law
will come into force on August 1, 2014.
However,
the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of
blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies
to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based
outside Russia.
Deputy
head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov
said that this would not matter.
“The
law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone
writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian
Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention
and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the
law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.
Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed
to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the
Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online
conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.
Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have
taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of
strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of
Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei
Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the
law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for
democracy in Russia and even ran for
president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against
Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.
The law does not specify how the government will count site
visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging
platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public
traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the
government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media
outlets.
The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily
run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on
Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.
But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our
counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world
know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law
might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does
more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian
Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.
It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain
popularity. There are those who use ‘pen
names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish
their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing
laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be
noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to
be fined, with individual violators being fined
between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange
rate), while “legal entities” will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe
and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining
momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many
countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through
oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind
words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.   
Reference:- 
1) Reuters.
2) mashable.com
3) The Verge.
About The Author:-
Sourya Banerjee

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