Russia moves to ban tools used to surf outlawed websites

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Russia moves to ban tools used to surf outlawed websites
A bill instructs Russia's telecommunications watchdog to compile a list of anonymizer services and prohibit any that fail to respect the bans issued on certain websites

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia’s parliament on Friday, July 21, voted to outlaw web tools that allow internet users to sidestep official bans of certain websites, in the nation’s latest effort to tighten controls of online services.

Members of the lower house, the Duma, passed the bill to prohibit the services from Russian territory if they were used to access blacklisted sites.

The bill instructs Russia’s telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor to compile a list of anonymizer services and prohibit any that fail to respect the bans issued in Russia on certain websites.

The proposed law still has to be approved by the upper chamber of parliament and then by President Vladimir Putin.

Several internet-based groups in Russia have condemned it as too vaguely formulated and too restrictive.

The Duma also approved moves Friday to oblige anyone using an online message service to identify themselves with a telephone number.

Russia’s opposition groups rely heavily on the internet to make up for their lack of access to the mainstream media.

But the Russian authorities have begun to tighten controls on online services, citing security concerns.

In June, Russian officials threatened to ban the Telegram messaging app after the FSB security service said those behind April’s deadly Saint Petersburg metro bombing had used it. – Rappler.com

 

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!