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posted by chromas on Wednesday April 17 2019, @03:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the an-internet-vs-The-Internet dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 2) by ilsa on Wednesday April 17 2019, @08:04PM

    by ilsa (6082) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 17 2019, @08:04PM (#831280)

    While he may be correct about individual details, the way he mashes them together into an incoherent mess destroys one's ability to have a sensible discussion about it. He's also contradictory. First he complains about social media clamping down on free speech, then he's worried gov'ts will crack down as well, ignoring the fact that if they do so then social media companies will be required to obey anyway.

    VPNs cannot solve the "censorship issue" when it's the platforms themselves that are doing the censoring. Especially when that censorship is mandated by gov't.

    Putin only give a rats ass about social media insomuch as he can use it to manipulate western countries as he has been doing. He is creating the great firewall of Russia because he wants to, and because he can.

    Putting the blame on social media as the instigators of this global crackdown is just a convenient excuse that masks much larger problems that arn't even tech related. Having social media deplatform people is their attempt to stop the nutjobs from ruining it for everyone else and gives gov't less ammunition to justify a real crackdown (IMO too little too late... soylent is as close as I get to social media now). But as Putin is demonstrating, gov't will do what they want anyway. They'll just find the easiest excuse to justify it. And if they can't find one, they'll make one up, like Bush did to justify the Iraq war.

    We need to look less at the smoke and mirrors that is social media and evaluate the real causes of all this rising hostility.

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