International NGOs Urge Putin Not To Sign Sustainable Runet Bill - RSF

Ten human rights and free speech advocacy groups are calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin not to sign into law the bill on a sustainable Runet because it violates international obligations, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a press release on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2019) Ten human rights and free speech advocacy groups are calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin not to sign into law the bill on a sustainable Runet because it violates international obligations, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a press release on Wednesday.

"Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 9 other international human rights NGOs call on Vladimir Putin not to sign the 'Sovereign Internet' bill into law because it would take Russia across a major new threshold in online censorship," the RSF stated. "This law violates Russia's international human rights obligations and, in particular, threatens press freedom and its citizens' right to information. With its broad and overly vague wording, the law is all the more disturbing because it would reinforce an already well-stocked arsenal of repressive legislation."

On Monday, the Russian upper house passed the bill on sustainability of the Russian segment of the internet in case the country gets disconnected from the global network. Putin has now to decide whether the bill will enter into force.

"Internet freedom is now just a distant memory in Russia but the law that the Russian parliament's upper house approved on April 22 and President Putin is poised to sign would take Russia much closer to the Chinese model of online censorship," RSF said. "It aims to establish a "sovereign" Russian Internet that is independent of the international Internet and is closely controlled by the Kremlin.

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"Internet service providers would be required to direct traffic through a centralized system of devices controlled by the state, with approved Internet exchange points, and to use a national domain name system (DNS)," the release added. "This would facilitate surveillance and, in the event of unspecified 'security threats,' would allow the authorities to block traffic between Russia and the rest of the World Wide Web partially or fully, and within Russia."

Alexander Zharov, the head of Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, said on Monday that Russia is ready to sustain even the most sophisticated cyberattacks on the Runet, the Russian segment of the Internet, including through assistance from the country's security services.

The Russian communications watchdog cooperates on the implementation of the bill with mobile network operators as well as with various agencies, "including the special services," the official noted.

The bill aims to create an autonomous Runet in case the country's providers are disconnected from the global web. It would also enable a Russian government entity to centrally administer Internet and communications networks in case of security threats from abroad. The draft legislation was introduced by Russian lawmakers in response to the "aggressive" US National Cyber Strategy released in September.