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The Russian parliament has approved a law creating a separate, domestic network, separate from the Internet. This Russian network of networks will be fully isolatable and will mean that the country's communications will become autonomous and able to continue functioning even when the plug is pulled on Russia's connections to the Internet at large. Concerns increase that this move will be used more for control of content and even just plain censorship, and make any attempts at circumventing restrictions much more difficult. The law is expected to take effect November 1st. Russia has already banned certain programs, such as Telegram.
One of the law's goals is to keep as much of the data exchanged between Russian internet users within the country's borders as possible. This aim may sound like a move to protect Russian users from external threats, but rights groups have warned that the new measures could ultimately be directed at Kremlin critics rather than international adversaries.
The idea of increasing the government's control over the internet is part of a more long-term national policy trend. In 2017, officials said they wanted 95% of internet traffic to be routed locally by 2020. Since 2016, a law has required social networks to store data about Russian users on servers within the country. The law was officially presented as an anti-terrorism measure — but many criticized it as an attempt to control online platforms that can be used to organize anti-government demonstrations.
Also at Silicon: Russian Parliament Passes Bill To Isolate Internet.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by jmorris on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:21PM (1 child)
It is already happening, you just refuse to see it. Europeans are already reduced to using VPNs and pseudonyms on gab to discuss European politics, because they will be jailed if identified and no European hosted service can allow them to even speak anonymously. Same thing is happening here, Americans will be using obscure foreign hosted (and soon Dark Net) channels to communicate anonymously. But of course it can't stop there, as the crypto-weenies always think it will.
Government is force, when it makes a law it actually intends to enforce, it doesn't allow such flagrant disobedience for long. To risk only making the debate less civil (so don't do that, take the analogy as what it is intended as, K?) imagine Dims regain total control in 2020, filibuster proof, and go for gun control. They ban "assault weapons" but nobody turns them in. They put on black hoods and go to the range and keep right on shooting them, posting video to YouTube, etc. Think the government puts up with that long? No. Well as they pass hate speech laws they equally won't put up with dissidents continuing to dissent anonymously. They will pass some "common sense" laws to crack down on these demon VPN things and this "Dark Net" nest of racism, bigotry and hate. Because of course they would. And when none of the half measures work they will build a Great Firewall because that is the only thing that has been shown to work, and as Thomas Friedman's continued presence as a NYT columnist proves, leftists love importing "good ideas" from other Communist countries.
Exactly like China has already done, Putin's Russia is now doing, Europe will be doing within the next year or so, America will do it as well unless something at long last changes the century long slide to darkness engulfing the world. Because if you accept the defective premise behind all this, it is the only solution. The Final Solution if you will.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ilsa on Wednesday April 17 2019, @08:33PM
I refuse to see nothing. I actually agree with some of what you said, in fact. The problem here is you were conflating and confusing multiple different things that are only tangentially related, and making it sound like they're all one big conspiracy to screw you over.
Using a VPN won't help you when material is being blocked at the source. Social media companies are responding to a situation that, while not specifically _caused_ by them, they have greatly amplified because the hostility made them money. Now the hostility is starting to cost them money, so now they're trying to do something about it. For them, it's purely about money. That's why that mother zucker is pushing for regulations now... to keep any new kids on the block from rising up and threatening his monopoly. It's all money.
All of this is completely separate from countries like Russia who want to turn their networks into islands. At best, social media is just an excuse. Putin has used far worse excuses, like saying that the US will somehow "take away" their internet if Russia doesn't respond swiftly. If the US really wants to create it's own great firewall, all they need to do is fabricate enough bullshit to successfully scare people into giving the gov't the power to do so, just like they've done time and time again in the past (the Iraq war being a great example). I don't expect that to happen anytime soon, as long as you guys keep voting in incompetent cheese-flavoured muppets.
And oh look, somehow blaming "leftists" for the mess, based on... heck if I can figure it out. And you wonder why people aren't receptive to your arguments?
Step 1: Make a coherent argument
Step 2: Stop trying to blame everything on "the left".
There are serious issues at play here. But instead of addressing them, you're just making noise and wasting everyone elses time and energy.