Putin: access to the global Internet will not be limited

Russia will not limit access to the global Internet system. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin, opening a meeting of the Security Council, the Kremlin press service reports . Such a issue is not even considered, he said.

The president emphasized that the freedom of the media and the right to receive and disseminate information will be steadily observed. There will be no total control, Putin assured .

At the same time, Russia will be consistently and in accordance with the law to close sites that promote "extremism", xenophobia and terrorism, as well as spreading child pornography, Putin emphasized.

Putin instructed to increase the protection of domestic communication networks and information resources used by government agencies. "It is necessary to qualitatively increase the protection of domestic communication networks and information resources, primarily those that use government agencies. We must strive to exclude illegal interference in their work, as well as a leakage of personal and confidential information," he said. The President also instructed to ensure the sustainable work of the Russian Internet segment.

A number of countries are trying to use their dominant position in the global information space to achieve not only economic, but also military-political goals, Putin said. To achieve their interests, they actively use information systems as an instrument of the so -called "soft power", he believes.

The constant growth of computer attacks on Russian information resources is recorded, the president noted. “I must say that in recent years, in six months, the number of attacks has increased many times. It is simply incomparable even with last year,” he said.

According to Putin, one of the sites for assessing risks and developing joint measures in the field of information security should be the UN, its profile groups and specialized structures.

Information that the Russian authorities consider, as one of the possible measures to protect their cyberspace, disconnecting from the global Internet appeared in the newspaper Vedomosti on September 19. According to the publication, this measure can be temporary in case of emergency.

Later on the same day, the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that Russia was not considering the possibility of disconnecting the country from the global Internet .

On September 20, the head of the Ministry of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov denied the information that the government discusses the issue of disabling Russia from the Internet. At the same time, he admitted that the Cabinet of Ministers is working on an event plan in case the global network is disconnected from the outside.

“Recently, Russia has been faced with a one -sided language of sanctions: we are being disconnected by bank cards, then the European Parliament says that it will turn off SWIFT. In these conditions, we are working out scenarios when our respected partners suddenly decide to turn off the Internet,” the minister explained.