Translated material
Rosmolodezh received the right to extrajudicial blocking of materials on the Internet
According to the decisions of Rosmolodezh, materials that involve minors in committing illegal acts that threaten life or health will be blocked.
On March 25, 2019, a decree of the Russian government was published, changing the rules for maintaining the Unified Register of Banned Websites . This document gives Rosmolodezh the right to make decisions on blocking materials on the Internet.
According to the text of the resolution, Rosmolodezh will send to Roskomnadzor decisions to block " information aimed at inciting or otherwise involving minors in committing unlawful acts that pose a threat to their life and (or) health or to the life and (or) health of other persons. "
Until now, decisions on extrajudicial blocking within the framework of this mechanism could be taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (in relation to materials on the methods of manufacturing, using and acquiring drugs), Rospotrebnadzor (on methods of committing suicide), the Federal Tax Service (on gambling advertising), Rosalkogolregulirovanie (on the sale of alcohol in networks) and Roskomnadzor itself (materials with child pornography).
The list of types of information, the sites with which are entered into the Unified Register, has changed according to the law submitted to the State Duma in May 2018 by deputy Irina Yarovaya and adopted in December. This law also ordered hosting providers to notify site owners about the inclusion of their resources in the registry " immediately ", and the owners - " immediately " remove prohibited information. Previously, both of these actions were given a day.
In addition, according to a government decree, the list of grounds for blocking materials on the Internet, in addition to court decisions and decisions of the listed authorized executive bodies, now includes decisions of bailiffs in cases of protecting honor and dignity.
From our point of view, giving Rosmolodezh new powers to block websites may lead to abuses in the area of restricting freedom of speech. A wide variety of statements can be classified as information, the blocking of which can be initiated by the department, while the procedure for assessing them for a potential threat to someone's life and health will apparently be opaque, which opens up scope for arbitrariness.
Sources
- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 21, 2019 No. 295 "On Amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 26, 2012 No. 1101" // Official Internet portal of legal information. March 25, 2019
- Draft Law No. 469143-7 "On Amendments to Article 15-1 of the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection" and Article 5 of the Federal Law "On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development"" // CREATION GAS "Lawmaking". 2018. December 18.