There will be no censorship on the Internet

Cyber ​​security and behavior on the Internet are urgent problems, but blocking the Internet or blocking access to social networks is unacceptable, Minister of Communications Igor Shchegolev is convinced

In his article on the website of the newspaper Vedomosti Schegolev commented on the scandalous bill on the protection of American intellectual property in the USA Internet / SOPA /.


The largest representatives of the Internet industry - Google, Facebook, Yahoo !, Twitter, Mozilla and eBay - opposed the bill, the essence of which is that any participant in the Internet, starting with providers and ending with search engines and even advertisers, is actually obligated to any appeal by the copyright holder to stop any interaction and provision of services to the resource accused of piracy. In addition, the bill makes it possible to block not only sites whose servers are located in the United States, but also any resources that citizens of this country have access to, and this is 99% of the entire Internet.

“The adoption of SOPA will not only negatively affect the development of the Internet as a business space, but can actually become a censorship tool, which contradicts democratic principles,” Shchegolev said. He noted that in our country “all proposals relating to the online space, whether protecting the interests of copyright holders or combating child pornography, are discussed with industry experts.” “It is impossible to block and censor the Internet, otherwise it will simply lose its meaning”

- the minister is sure.

In Russia, the Internet is freer than in the west, Shchegolev believes. “There is an opinion that the Russian government is allegedly seeking greater state control over the Internet,” he writes in his article. “But our country does not even consider the possibility of blocking access to Twitter or Facebook in case of social unrest, while some countries in Europe have openly proclaimed that they will apply such a measure.”

It is necessary for all states to regulate the global network together, Shchegolev believes. But not all countries, he said, are ready to sign under the convention on the Internet space as a legally binding document.

“States that join the code of conduct will commit themselves to cooperate in the fight against criminal or terrorist activities using information telecommunication technologies, including Networks,” the head of the Ministry of Communications said. He emphasized that "the punishment of offenders in the information space should be proportionate."

Based on materials of ITAR-TASS, " Interfax "