Putin orders monitoring of foreign interference in elections via the Internet / Evgeny Razumny / Vedomosti

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the leadership of the chambers of the Federal Assembly on Monday, reiterated that the Internet should remain free, but the activities of foreign companies on the Internet and social networks should be monitored in the year of the presidential elections.

"In no case should the space of freedom on the Internet be narrowed, but we must carefully look at how some companies operate on the Internet, in social networks, how widely they are involved in our domestic political life," the president said. "In particular, we will need to carefully analyze how they behave and will behave during the presidential election campaign."

"Remember how much fuss there was about how much advertising time our Russia Today and Sputnik had in the US? There was a fuss, but it turned out to be a minimal amount, hundredths of a percent! And what about us? How many of them are present here?" the president explained. "I'm not saying that we need to make hasty decisions. This shouldn't be done now, not before the elections. We need to see what's happening, analyze it, and then make a decision with a clear eye," Putin said. He, however, did not rule out that special decisions might not be needed.

Individuals may join the ranks of foreign agents

Politics / Security and Law

This is how the president responded to a request from Andrei Klishas, chairman of the Federation Council's committee on constitutional legislation, to support the amendments to the law on foreign agents proposed by him and his colleagues, which tighten the requirements for the media - foreign agents. Putin suggested "looking closely" at the law, without excluding any "rough spots" in it. "After all, we did not intend to and do not do this - we do not limit the freedom of citizens. Of course, this law needs to be improved, but we must make sure that it is aimed at solving the task for which it was created, namely, to exclude any interference in our domestic political life from the outside, directly or through front men, financing them. This was the point. If there are any rough spots, unsettled matters, we must look at them carefully," Putin said.

A bill regulating the activities of media outlets recognized as foreign agents has been submitted to the State Duma. According to the document, even an individual with Russian or foreign citizenship can be recognized as a foreign agent media outlet. On November 25, Putin signed the law allowing media outlets to be recognized as foreign agents.

Putin orders monitoring of foreign interference in elections via internet