At the UN, human rights activists announced a threat to global Internet freedom due to Russia's actions

In Geneva, at a session of the UN Human Rights Council, human rights activists from the British organization Article19 announced a threat to freedom of the Internet around the world from Russia. It is reported by "Kommersant".

“Russia is creating a mechanism that, when fully implemented, will not only severely restrict the free flow of information on the Internet, but potentially give the Russian authorities access to personal communications data of anyone anywhere in the world,” the human rights activists said in a statement.

It is noted that the attack on Internet freedom in Russia began in 2012: since that time, Russia has been blacklisting websites, "gradually expanding the list of grounds for blocking websites, including without a court decision." According to human rights activists, the most striking manifestation of the country's position was the blocking of the Telegram messenger.

In addition, human rights activists cite as an example of the restriction of Internet freedom in Russia the blocking of a number of Internet media, the social network LinkedIn, as well as the Yarovaya Law, which obliges all telecom operators and Internet providers to store data on user communications and transfer encryption keys at the request of special services.

“We call on the UN to scrutinize and publicly challenge Russia’s actions in order to protect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and privacy both online and offline, as mandated by international agreements to which Russia is a party,” explained the Program Manager for Europe and Central Asia Article19 Cathy Morris.

On April 16, Roskomnadzor began to restrict the work of Telegram. On the same day, the company received a notification about the blocking of proxy and VPN servers.

Despite the blocking of Roskomnadzor, the messenger continues to work for most Russians. On the eve of the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the first instance. Lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev noted that the defense will continue to seek the lifting of the blocking both in the European Court of Human Rights and in Russian courts.