Under the bill, which has passed its third and final reading in the State Duma, a special agency can be set up within the Prosecutor General’s Office to surf the web in search of provocative messages. Only the Prosecutor General and his deputies will be able to order the blocking of websites.
The site owner will find out about the blocking after it happens. The website would be unblocked immediately after the content deemed to be illegal is removed.
Currently in Russia, it takes several days to obtain a court ruling to block an internet site containing extremist materials.
Among the content that can be banned are incitements to participate in “public events held in violation of the established order,” “extremist” or terrorist activities, according to the bill. Also, content that provokes conflicts between nations or religions may be banned.
The law is set to be applied for websites hosted by servers in foreign jurisdiction as well. In that case, a cease and desist order would be sent in English, a co-sponsor of the bill, Liberal Democratic party lawmaker Andrey Lugovoy told Interfax. If the hosting company refuses to remove the content after the notification, it will be blocked in Russia, he said.
The legislation extends the existing list of illegal content that may be blocked without a court order. Currently, only child pornography and information promoting drug abuse and suicide may be blocked.
The law has been criticized by the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, however, which called the new powers it gives the Prosecutor General’s Office “fraught with serious infringements to Constitutional rights and freedoms of the person and citizen,” according to a statement on the body’s website.
The legislation will also “create the illusion of battling extremism, instead of actually working to eliminate it,” the committee said.
The law also came under fire from MPs. One lawmaker, Fair Russia’s Dmitry Gudkov, pointed out that allowing the Prosecutor General to determine what material is “extremist” and what is not would contradict the Constitution.