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Foreign Internet companies to continue working on Russian market — Internet Ombudsman

The scenario of switching off Russia’s segment of the worldwide web is unlikely, Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev said

MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. The complicated international situation will not make foreign Internet companies leave Russia, Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev told TASS on Friday.

“They will not leave the Russian market. On the contrary, they will look for the possibility to continue their work here. Chances are high that their native countries will stimulate them and sponsor their presence in Russia,” Marinichev said.

“In the present-day world America is not where the dollar is but where it is also ‘heard’. They (foreign Internet companies) will seek information presence and it is only possible with the aid of high tech companies,” he said.

No complaints have been filed from the Internet market participants over the problems of their work in Russia, Marinichev said, adding that there were only isolated local complaints.

The scenario of switching off Russia’s segment of the worldwide web is unlikely. “To switch off the Internet is equal to declaring a new Cold War. It is deep isolation and a very serious confrontation for the present-day world,” he said.

However, Marinichev called the struggle for sovereignty of the Internet national segments “the normal situation.”

“It is necessary to understand that information sovereignty is the positive process of the nation’s cultural expression and not the negative process of enclosure when the Internet can turn into a conglomerate of information fortresses where Russia, Europe, the USA, and China will stand alone by themselves,” he said.