A Russian law was passed in the lower house Thursday requiring all Internet firms that keep personal data of its users to move and store personal information of Russian citizens to servers in the country, or else face the punishment of getting blocked from the World Wide Web.
The government explains the bill is aimed at protecting data of its Russian citizens who are Internet users.
TechCrunch was able to secure a Google-translated version of a few parts of the said bill.
“When collecting personal data, including through information and the internet telecommunications network, the operator is required to provide a record that the systematization, accumulation, storage, updating and retrieval of personal data of citizens of the Russian Federation, is held on databases located in the territory of the Russian Federation,” read the bill.
Critics though believe it is rather a move to suppress social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Protestors opposing the return to Kremlin of Russian President Vladimir Putin used social networks in 2012.
"The aim of this law is to create ... (another) quasi-legal pretext to close Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all other services," blogger and Internet expert Anton Nossik told to Reuters.
"The ultimate goal is to shut mouths, enforce censorship in the country and shape a situation where Internet business would not be able to exist and function properly."
Political analysts are also looking at the angle that maybe Russia is pursuing to censor Internet and pass those within its borders alone.
Putin, who is a former KGB officer, once called the Internet as a project of the CIA. His main concern in the recent bill, he said, was to protect minors from indecent Internet content. He previously said he has no plans to ban social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
Initial research indicates that Russia may also be trying to combat piracy and to assure national security. Edward Snowden, an NSA whistleblower, now resides in Russia, and this may have also intensified the awareness of Kremlin on how government agencies try to collect user data.
Earlier reports say the Russian government approved a law that gives authorities the power to block any website it deemed extremist or threat to public order without the need for court ruling. Such law gave way for the blocking of websites of critics Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny for the reason that their websites “contained calls for illegal activity.”
The bill yet awaits decision from the upper house and the President. If it passes through, all Internet-based products and services—social networks, email and cloud services, shopping websites—will have no choice but to establish data centers in Russia starting September 2016.
