Russia is enforcing new rules on Internet bloggers. As of today, August 1, all blogs having at least 3,000 readers a day will face stricter government scrutiny, such as ban of explicit language, this seems like Russian Censorship to me.
This new code nicknamed Bill on Bloggers was signed by Russian president Putin in May 2014. Any blogger with 3,000+ visitors a day must register with Russian government watchdog Roskomnadzor. They’ll be under the same restrictions as mainstream journalist. Restrictions include, but don’t limited to, refraining from slander or hate speech. They have to use their own name, no aliases. Any blogger caught breaking these rules will be blocked on Russian territory. Rule breakers are subject to fines equaling $850. I’ve read cases where fines can reach up to $15,000.
This sounds like common sense on paper. One can argue this is similar to the same regulations the Federal Communications Commission has on US media. But Russian Internet companies are already protesting, some are even cooking the numbers to make sure their blogs have a maximum 2,500 readers a day just to avoid the Bill on Bloggers. I can sympathize with these bloggers. They say you can’t use obscene language. Yes, I know about the seven words you can’t say on TV. But what if someone criticizes Putin at all? Is that obscene. Keep in mind Putin was a KGB officer, so in his mind and in his administrators’ minds, criticism is probably offensive. Even in this country, bloggers aren’t subjected to such scrutiny. If they were, then probably a fourth of the blogs we read would be taken down by the government. But this is Russia. Why am I talking about it here in the USA? Do you really think this can’t happen here? So I ask you: is Bill on Bloggers a common sense law or is it a gateway to censorship?