DIGITAL ECONOMY NATIONAL PROGRAMME (RUSSIA)

May 2, 2019

Russia President Vladimir Putin signed into law a sovereign internet bill which will allow Russian authorities to isolate the country's internet. The text of the law was published recently but it will not come into effect until November.

About:

Name of the law: The Digital Economy National Programme.
Features:
- It is aimed at isolating the country's internet (Runet) from the rest of the world to ensure it could remain available and secure in the event of a cyber-attack or other incident.
- This means that data from its own organisations and users would remain within Russia, rather than being distributed globally.
- Internet pre-filtering centres will also be introduced and the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (also known as the Roskomnadzor) will be able to regulate traffic routing.
Arguments in favour: It will increase the cyber security and stability of Russian internet in the event of foreign interference.
Arguments against: It is just one more layer of censorship from the government, which will further isolate consumers from the outside world.