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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Russia closes down 1,000 web-sites


Moscow street protests in June vowed to defy Vladimir Putin and his efforts to silence any challenges to his rule.


More Internet Censorship  -  Russia cracks down on freedom of information
  • Putin to be crowned Czar.


A new Russian censorship law will be 'like China's great firewall', say activists, as the Wikipedia site shuts for day in protest.

The Russian justice ministry maintains a register of more than 1,000 websites that have been classed as "extremist" and ordered to be shut down.

The new Internet bill due to be considered by parliament and is the latest sign of growing repression of civil freedom in Russia.

Czar Vladimir I
The bill calls for the creation of a federal website "nolist". Internet providers and site owners would be forced to shut down any websites on this list. According to Wikipedia authors on Tuesday, the bill will "lead to the creation of a Russian analogue to China's great firewall".

The bill's backers in Putin's United Russia party argue that the amendments to the country's information legislation are aimed to "protect" people from child pornography, sites that promote drug use and teen suicide.

TRANSLATION  -  The usual government Bullshit.

The laws are a response to the mass protests that have drawn tens of thousands of Russians on to the streets following Putin's declaration of returning to the presidency late last year.

With Russia's main state television channels under the control of the government, and its few free newspapers unable to be distributed across a vast country with poor infrastructure, the Internet has become a growing source of free information.

(UK Guardian)





Demonstrators attend a protest against Kremlin policies and vote rigging.
Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP

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