Russia's communications regulator opposes tightening control over Internet

Alexander Zharov, the Head of Russia's communications agency, Roskomnadzor, says existing methods of combating illegal information on the Internet are effective and “do not require a radical overhaul.”

Zharov's words are in response to journalists’ questions about an article published yesterday by the Head of Russia's Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, which calls for tighter internet censorship.

“I want to say that the approach to controlling illegal information on networks in Russia is designed very differently to that of China's,” said Zharov. “The adoption of a decision regarding one or another level of regulation is dependent on the State Duma, the government and the President.”

Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov says he does not know if Putin has had time time to read Bastrykin's article yet, reports news agency TASS.

In his article published in the magazine Kommersant-Vlast, Bastrykin had argued there needs to be an administrative (i.e. non-judicial) procedure for blocking extremist information, for example blocking radical nationalist websites. He also proposed a series of new measures to expand state regulation and to deepen its access to information.