In a security council meeting held Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not restrict the Internet access of Russian users.
He did, however, stress the need to ensure Russia’s “information security” in the wake of cyber attacks on state websites.
Russian malware activity surged after the tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated, and Putin said that the attacks are “directly linked to the current international situation.”
Cyber attacks have affected the Kremlin website as well as sites for Russia’s central bank and foreign ministry. Russian officials have also been targeted by hackers, who most recently compromised the Twitter account of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin’s announcement of an unobtrusive approach to internet security seemingly contradicts comments he made in August denouncing the Internet as a “CIA project” and calling for Russia to “fight for its interests” against Western powers. These statements led to concern that Russia could potentially break up the internet in favor of a Kremlin-controlled alternative.
Putin appeared to put these fears to rest, stating “we have no plans to restrict Internet access, or put the internet under total control put in the state’s hands.”
Despite saying all the right things to put the public at ease, President Putin has a poor track record concerning internet freedom. Russia has taken numerous measures to increase its ability to monitor and control internet content, including the passage of an internet blacklist law in 2012 that allows Russia to censor content it deems extremist including content from bloggers, journalists, and activists. Putin’s political allies have also taken control of social networking service VKontakte, a Russian alternative to Facebook that boasts over 60 million daily users.
While the Kremlin appears to have taken a step back from internet interventionism, critics of Russia’s past policies have cause to be skeptical of the announcement.
