Russian Duma Considers Legislation to Curb Nationalist Hate Speech

Last week, the Russian Duma heard a first reading of proposed legislation that would increase government monitoring and control over the Internet. The new law is in "...response to the rising number of cyber crimes and, in particular, to curb increasing nationalist hate speech that is resounding across the Russian internet."

Of course, any control over one type of speech has the potential to be used in other areas:

"However, as some critics have pointed out, the text of the law seems to be wider than this: the center is charged with regulate the "development and use of the internet [sic]."

Anton Nosik, a Russian internet expert, argues that this law raises dozens of questions. First, he thinks the creation of a watchdog might lead to the Chinese approach to internet use, in which users are limited access to certain sites."

New Russian Internet Watchdog Proposed