The Russian Government’s New Internet Laws

The BBC recently reported that the Russian government just passed new internet laws. Amongst this new legislation includes the fact that bloggers who have a specified readership of 3000 readers per day “must register with the mass media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform to the regulations that govern the country’s larger media outlets.” The report also states that the Russian government will be given access to a internet user’s information.

Other troubling notes from this new Russian internet legislation is that “[i]t includes measures to ensure that bloggers cannot remain anonymous, and states that social networks must maintain six months of data on its users.” In addition, “[t]he information must be stored on servers based in Russian territory, so that government authorities can gain access.”

This sort of government control by Putin is not new: he has attempted to quell opposition, protests, as well as journalists in the state. In fact, earlier laws have given the Russian state the authority to block websites, which they have done.

Such policies show that there is a real concern by Putin that citizens are using their voice to speak out against him, the state, and the various human rights abuses committed by the government. And thus, this story is a clear example about the power of the individual in international relations. With the fast rise of globalization, the internet, and social media, individuals such as writers, journalists, and bloggers can not only express their opinions on issues on political matters, but they can also build a strong following, which in turn, seems to greatly concern the Russian government.

And yet, despite the continued crackdown of these voices, as the BBC story suggests, it will be difficult to stop those from continuing their work. For one,

“It is hard to see how the law will be enforced. The servers for most of the popular social media platforms that many Russians use are based outside Russia.”

Furthermore, in the piece it is also pointed out that

“Many popular bloggers are already looking for, and apparently finding, ways to “cheat” the feature that counts page visits and keep their daily unique visitor numbers just under 3000, or to make sure that the statistics are hidden altogether.”

This story, and the citizen response shares some similarities with what transpired during the “Arab Uprisings” in late 2010 and early 2011. The governments in the region, such as Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali in Tunisia, were attempting to limit the use of the internet, as well as social media sites. However, savvy protesters often found ways to circumvent government control, whether it was hosting sites (or broadcasting) from outside Tunisia, or using a multitude of social media platforms to convey their messages about meeting times, or anti-government discussions.

As the importance of social media continues to expand, authoritarian states will continue to find ways to suppress citizens voices, and in turn, the citizens will be working to ensure that their platform to speak will not be restricted.