The aggressive policy of major Western media resources towards undesirable Russian media has provoked a natural reaction from the Russian State Duma
On Thursday 19 November, the official website of the Russian Parliament published the text of a bill according to which Roskomnadzor will have the right to block resources that violate the freedom of the media.
The authors of the document explain the relevance of their initiative by the fact that since April this year there have been about two dozen cases where Western digital platforms, in particular, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, have blocked access to publications distributing information that is unfavourable to Western elites.
This discriminatory policy has also caught up with News Front. In spring, the agency’s YouTube video hosting channels were irrevocably removed without explanation. The News Front pages were then removed by the Facebook administration. It is now forbidden even to refer to our agency on the social network. Twitter has a similar policy, which violates freedom of speech.
However, if the abovementioned bill is passed, the Russian legislative framework will have the status of “the owner of an information resource involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens.” With regard to such platforms, Roskomnadzor will be able to introduce full or partial access restrictions.
In addition, the legislation also provides for fines for the use of censorship. They will reach 3 million roubles [39 thousand dollars].