MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. The Western media are doing the groundwork for compelling digital platforms to meddle in the domestic affairs of foreign countries, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Friday.
On September 30, The Washington Post published an article slamming Apple’s and Google’s decision to implement the Russian authorities’ legal requirements to stop meddling in electoral processes. The newspaper called for considering possible formats of responsibility for IT platforms for the failure to respect universal human rights.
"The Western media have embarked on a campaign to clear the way for compelling digital platforms to meddle with domestic affairs of foreign countries more actively. The public is being taught to see IT companies as an instrument of political struggle," Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the international committee at Russia’s Federation Council, or upper parliament house, and a member of an ad hoc commission on the protection of state sovereignty and prevention of interference into Russia’s sovereign affairs, was quoted as saying on the commission’s Telegram channel.
"Hiding behind amorphous deliberation on rights and freedoms, the newspaper calls for punishing IT giants for complying with national laws of countries that are not members of the collective West," the lawmaker noted, adding that digital platforms in the United States are required to abide by the law.
As the West is seeking to make an instrument of political struggle out of IT companies, "extra tools are needed to guarantee that IT giants comply with Russian law," Dzhabarov stressed. "We consider it as a priority area of work".