Roskomnadzor, the media watchdog of Russia, has sent letters to Facebook, Twitter and Google warning the Internet companies of their possible violations against the Internet laws of Russia.
A spokesman for Roskomnadzor, Vadim Ampelonsky, said that if the companies did not comply with the laws, they could possibly be blocked from being accessed in the country.
Ampelonsky said that due to the encryption systems in place for Facebook, Twitter and Google, Russia will have no possible way of blocking only certain pieces of content.
As such, if Russia would decide to bring down certain content on a certain website due to violating the country's Internet laws, they can only do so by blocking the access to the entire website hosting the said content.
The Internet laws, which critics against President Vladimir Putin say amount to censorship, will require the three companies to provide Russia with data on Russian bloggers who have over 3,000 readers daily. The three companies will also be required to shut down websites that the media watchdog would see as containing invitations for unauthorized protests and unrest.
Putin, who was once a spy for the KGB, once said that the Internet is a project of the CIA, showing the high levels of distrust between the governments of the two countries.
While Putin said late last year that the government will not subject the Internet under its full control, critics against the Russian government see the Internet laws as detrimental to the freedom of speech.
A law that was put into action last year gave prosecutors the ability to block, even with no court decision, websites that contain information regarding protests that have not received sanctioning from authorities.
Another law states that bloggers with big readerships should be officially registered with the government, with their identities to be confirmed by an agency.
According to Facebook, it will respond to user data requests made by governments as long as they comply with the policies of the company and the local laws, in addition to meeting the international standards for legal process.
Facebook rejected two requests by the Russian government for user data last year. In comparison, the social network approved and released user data on almost 80 percent of the more than 14,000 user data requests of the government, police and courts in the United States over the second half of last year.
Twitter's response rate to requests from the United States was similar to that of Facebook, but it rejected a total of 108 requests from the government of Russia.
Google, meanwhile, released user data in 5 percent of requests made by the government of Russia in the second half of last year.
"We realize they are registered under U.S. jurisdiction. But I think in this case they should demonstrate equal respect to national legislation," said Ampelonsky regarding the low response rates of the three companies, adding that if they do not approve more requests made by the Russian government, sanctions will be applied.
Photo: Jason Howie | Flickr
