DOHA, April 7. /TASS/. Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has urged the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to ensure digital sovereignty of each country in the world.
"We have not only to recognize, but also to ensure digital sovereignty of any country in the area of internet technologies, protection of personal data, protection of information space. It is the parliaments that will do the main work to ensure the notion of ‘digital sovereignty’ in terms of legislation," he said at the 140th IPU Assembly in Qatar on Sunday.
Volodin noted that the notion of sovereignty traditionally includes the elements that define a country’s independence. First of all, the issue is about the territory of a country, its borders, the rule of power, independent legal system, army, national currency, and overall financial and tax fields, he said.
"Previously, when one said about meddling into the affairs of other states, one meant first of all aggressive actions implying borders crossing. However, in today’s world, one does not have to cross borders to inflict harm as internet technologies allow interfering into the work of public bodies, in election campaigns, in the work of nuclear power stations, trigger transport collapse, ruin the financial system of countries and corporations. Attackers affect the credibility of people, organizations and whole countries," Duma Speaker emphasized.
According to Volodin, the majority of countries around the world cannot ignore the fact that electronic data may be accessed and managed from overseas. "And our nationals may be cut off from using electronic services, social networks from overseas, for example, in the event of illegal sanctions. We should do everything to make new technologies available to protect citizens and ensure digital sovereignty of the country," he concluded.