Russia gets an independent Internet. President Vladimir Putin signed a law that the government released on Wednesday. According to the Russian Internet traffic will be directed in the future via servers in their own country.
In order for the Internet to be independent and continue to function in the event of a failure or major cyber attack by another country, the government and parliament had argued. The controversial law is due to enter into force on 1 November.
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Worries swept aside
Many Russians fear that their land could be digitally isolated and censorship and surveillance made easier. These concerns had been rejected by the legislature as unfounded. Also in Parliament there were only a few critics. The Duma had approved the project in three readings. After that, it was submitted to the Federation Council, the House of Lords of Parliament.
For Internet users, it will be harder in the future to circumvent restrictions of the authorities. The media regulator Roskomnadzor gets more opportunities to intervene in the Internet traffic.
At the beginning of March, thousands of people in Russia demonstrated against the law. The criticism was also the cost. Most recently, laws have been passed that provide for heavy fines or even arrest for disseminating false information on the Internet.
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