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Russia not to limit access to Internet — Putin

Websites with illegal content will be systematically closed down, Russian President Vladimir Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin TASS/Mikhail Metsel
Russian President Vladimir Putin
© TASS/Mikhail Metsel

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered measures to protect Internet’s Russian segment.

“It is obvious that today we need to develop and implement a range of additional measures in the area of information security,” the head of state said at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council. Such measures should focus on enhancing the protection of the Russian communication and information networks, primarily those used by government agencies, Putin said. It is important to ensure the stable and safe operation of the Russian segment of the Internet, the president noted.

Putin has confirmed that websites with illegal content will be closed down. “We shall be acting systematically and in strict compliance with the law and close down such sites (with prohibited content),” Putin said on Wednesday. However, Russia will not limit access to Internet and subject it to control, he stressed.

The Russian president said some countries are taking advantage of their leading position on the Internet to reach military and political aims. “We see that certain countries are trying to use their dominating position in the global information space to achieve not only economic, but also military and political goals,” the Russian leader noted.

Russia has registered an increase of hacker attacks on Russian information web sources over the course of the past six months, Putin said. “Our corresponding departments are registering the constant growth of web attack on Russian information resources and in the course of the past half a year, the number of attacks grew. This is simply incomparable with last year,” Putin stressed.

The Russian president said that methods, tactics and ways of web attacking were constantly upgraded and improved. “The intensity (of attacks) directly depends on the current international situation,” Putin said.

It is also essential to expand cooperation in ensuring international information security with global and regional organizations, the Russian president said. “I believe the United Nations Organization, its specialized groups and structures should become a site for assessing risks and elaborating joint measures in the area of information security and analyzing the legal consequences of decisions that are made,” Putin said.