According to a report by the Russian satellite news agency on the 30th, Russian President Putin signed a decree to take sanctions against censoring the behavior of the Russian media.
According to the law, foreign social networking sites and IT platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other giants, will face punishment for restricting the disclosure of race, ethnicity, political affiliation and other information.
The Russian Attorney General reached an agreement with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discriminate against the Russian media by the owners of defined information resources, and impose sanctions accordingly.
If the corresponding resources abandon the censorship of the Russian media, it should be notified to the Russian Communications Regulatory Authority first and then to the Russian Attorney General. The Russian Attorney General may cancel the sanctions decision after consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs again.
Previously, the Russian Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media Supervision Bureau had asked Facebook, Twitter and Google to stop censorship.
According to the department, these platforms currently restrict users’ access to information published by about 20 Russian media, including Russian News Agency, RT, Russian Satellite News Agency (Sputnik) and “Russia 1” channel.
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can characterize the behavior of an information resource owner as allowing discrimination against the Russian media and impose sanctions accordingly.
If the foreign network platform abandons censorship of Russian media, it should inform the Russian Federation’s Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media Supervision Bureau, and then the Attorney General will consult with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cancel the decision on the sanctions.
