Russia passes bill allowing external internet cut-off

The bill

In reality, the law will allow officials to isolate users in Russia from the internet without a court decision.

So far, in the entire history of the internet, there has not been a single case of any country being entirely disconnected from the outside world.

Currently, the most stringent network regulations are found in countries such as North Korea, Iran, China, and Turkmenistan.

• Russia wants Facebook, Google and Viber to give Russian security agencies access to internet traffic and private correspondence

• Ukrainian President signs decree banning access to Russian websites, including social media

Who proposed the bill?

Attacks on the internet occur regularly in Russia, but have recently intensified. Two weeks ago, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, joined critics of the internet.

The bill was proposed by rather curious legislators: member of the lower house Andrei Lugovoi, and a member of the upper house of parliament, Andrei Klishas.

Lugovoy is wanted internationally by the UK authorities who have accused him of organizing an assassination attempt in London. He stands accused of using a radioactive substance on Russian opposition activist Alexander Litvinenko.

Klishas recently became the subject of an investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (organization of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny) which accuses Klishas of being involved in fraud and tax evasion.

A general trend 

This law is not the first to limit the rights of internet users in Russia. There are others that have already been implemented:

“Currently, the blocking of prohibited resources is easily circumvented by using a proxy and vpn, as well as using cloud technology. But when the network is completely isolated from the outside world, no technology will help something forbidden to enter from outside – for example, Facebook, which will be one of the first victims.”

“The Middle Ages are returning.”

“This is a law about turning off the network not from the outside, but from the inside.”

But the prevailing reaction on social networks is laughter:

“An Autonomous Russian Internet is only the first step. Next is a sovereign multiplication table and a unique Russian periodic table.”

“These are all half measures. We need to ban electricity altogether.”

“There is nothing to be afraid of. They will steal the budget set out for turning off the internet, and that’ll be the end of that.”