Security forces will be able to block objectionable websites without trial

Law enforcement agencies can now block the delegation of any domain without a court decision or a reasoned request. According to the human rights association "Agora", this is allowed by the new rules for registering domain names in the .RU and .РФ zones, approved by the Coordination Center for the National Internet Domain. The first site to suffer from this innovation was the resource of the Andrei Rylkov Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Social Justice (rylkov-fond.ru), known for its harsh criticism of the Russian state drug policy.

The delegation of the rylkov-fond domain was terminated at the request of the Federal Drug Control Service in Moscow sent to the domain name registrar Domain Registrar LLC. The new rules allow you to do this not only without a court decision, but also without specifying a reason. Taking advantage of this, Moscow drug police cited the presence of “materials promoting drug use” on the foundation’s website as the reason. Agora's lawyers appealed the decision of the Federal Drug Control Service as illegal and unfounded and are preparing a complaint to the court against the rules for registering domain names.

The new rules came into force on November 11, 2011. It follows from them that “the delegation of a domain may be terminated by the registrar on the basis of a written decision of the head (deputy head or equivalent official) of the body carrying out operational investigative activities.” Previously, it was possible to suspend the delegation of a domain name only on the basis of a judicial act (ruling) or a reasoned decision (request) in writing from one of the heads of the body carrying out operational investigative activities.

“Previously, the rules indicated the need for a motivated request from security forces,” notes legal analyst of the Agora Association, Candidate of Legal Sciences Damir Gainutdinov. “Now law enforcement agencies can, without any motivation, block Internet resources that are objectionable to them. I am sure that the changes will the rules were specifically lobbied for, and we expect, with the help of the court, to correct this yet another restriction of Internet freedom.”