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strana.ru
February 4, 2002
Internet Censorship -- Rumor or Reality?
Russian Interior Ministry dismisses rumors that access to the Web will be
restricted
By Victoria Whall
Russian daily Noviye Izvestya reported on Friday that the Russian authorities could limit access to the World Wide Web. Apparently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is preparing a draft law, which would restrict access to those who have permission from law-enforcement bodies. Under this law, not only would all users be brought under tight control - some Russians may not be granted access to the world wide web at all.
Later Friday, the article's author, Marat Khayrullin, spoke to Echo Moskvy about his motives and the source of his information. He sees the crackdown on Internet access as being part of an overall assault on the freedom of the press, saying he felt as if the Cold War was continuing. "I decided to deal what was clearly a warning blow," he said.
When asked about his source of information, Mr. Khayrullin refused to reveal the person's identity, saying only that he is confident that the source is reliable. Defending his article, he told Echo Moskvy that he had indirect confirmation of the draft law even before his article had been published.
He added that management of several Internet provider services had been ringing him since the article had been published in Friday's issue, and their reports confirm that people from security agencies have been looking into bringing Internet access, "under control". It seems that representatives have recently been approaching the Internet providers in order to ascertain how one might go about restricting access to the web.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs denied reports that any proposals were being worked on to restrict access to the Internet to Russian nationals, and called the newspaper report, "absurd", Russian news wires said.
Despite a 77 billion ruble federal program to promote access to the Internet being announced today, it looks as if there might be some change in the pipeline.
At an international conference held in Rome, Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov introduced a new concept in the fight against terror, "information terrorism".
According to RIA-Novosti, Ivanov explained that modern society's dependence on electronic databases and transmitted information directly affects defense and intelligence arms, law enforcement agencies, banking and public utilities. Said Ivanov: "Vital spheres of activity of any state have become accessible to hackers, and their coordinated actions could not only paralyze a whole country, but could also result in numerous human casualties."
Could this - that the Russian administration, like all others, is vulnerable to "information terrorist"- perhaps be the pretext under which restriction to the web will be introduced?
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