Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to counter censorship of Russian media, according to which social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube will face penalties for restricting the disclosure of information on race, ethnicity and political affiliation, RIA Novosti reported on April 30.
The Russian Prosecutor General and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have agreed to define and impose sanctions on those who own information resources that discriminate against Russian media. If the corresponding resource waives censorship of Russian media, it should first inform the Russian Communications Regulatory Agency and then the Russian Prosecutor General. The Russian Prosecutor General, again in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, may cancel the decision to impose sanctions.
One of the bill’s authors noted that fines for online platforms could range from a few thousand rubles to three million rubles. Another lawmaker noted that blocking and restricting traffic can go hand in hand with fines, “one does not offset the other,” and that blocking individual pages or entire platforms will depend on the resources of the platforms themselves.
In the past, Russia’s media watchdog has asked Facebook, Twitter and Google to stop censorship. According to the department, these platforms currently restrict user access to messages posted by about 20 Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti, RT, RIA Novosti and the channel Russia 1.
Recent Comments