MOSCOW, April 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian lawmakers has approved a bill that would allow Moscow to cut the country’s internet traffic from foreign servers, in a key second reading paving the way for legislation that activists fear is a step towards online isolation.
It is set to take effect on Nov 1 once it formally becomes law.
The proposed measures would create technology to monitor internet routing and steer Russian internet traffic away from foreign servers, ostensibly to prevent a foreign country from shutting it down.
Lawmakers in the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, voted 320 to 15 to pass the bill.
Authors of the initiative say Russia must ensure the security of its networks after US President Donald Trump unveiled a new American cybersecurity strategy last year that said Russia had carried out cyber attacks with impunity.
The legislation has been dubbed the “sovereign internet” bill by Russian media.
Last month President Vladimir Putin signed laws that allow courts to fine and briefly jail people for showing disrespect towards authorities, and block media for publishing “fake news”.
The bill’s authors insist that the measures only outline a plan to make Russian internet “more secure and reliable”.
The bill is set to take effect after a third reading in the State Duma and a vote in the upper house, both of which are seen as a formality.
Then the bill would be formally signed into law by Putin. — NNN-AGENCIES
