Russia Begins Censoring Websites

[Gottesstrafe]

The government is censoring the internet? What is this, communist Rus- Ooooh.

 

[GTwander]

Random comment, and maybe somewhat insensitive, but why would someone need a website to tell them how to kill themselves? When did "Swallow all the colourful candies" or "toss thyneself of thyne roof" become to difficult to come up with yourself?

Because doing it painlessly, or with "gusto", requires a lot of planning.

My question would be "why does Russia give a shit about that?".
It's not like they need babies to feed some future war machine... or do they?

*dun dun duuuun*

 

[AverageExtraordinair]

The Nazis have returned and are now in the process of taking over Greece à la 1920's Germany, and it's clear that their cross-hairs are aimed at the immigrants and Jews.
Russia is now being converted back to a communist, totalitarian state that was supposed to be abolished two decades ago.
And governments like those in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and Zimbabwe still exist.

I'll just call it now: World War III in at least 15 years.

Well if you believe the sky to be falling I figure its your responsibility to go inform the king.

 

[1337mokro]

The headline should read.

"Russia publicly announces censorship plans"

They were already doing it, just like they are doing it in every other country to.

 

[Strazdas]

I'd go as far to replace "Russian" with "any" in that sarcastic post. Wikileaks, Megaupload? Legitimacy of those actions is not part of the equation here, but what were those actions if not internet censorship?

Wikileaks (at least) was a different matter. Wikileaks was dealing with and exposing stolen classified material, regardless of the damage that such information could have caused.

material being classified is already censorship. wikileaks was breaking lawful censorship.



the great firewall of china and france is expanding. who will it swallow next?

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Russian Telecom Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said the allegations of censorship were unfounded. "The government is not aimed at enforcing censorship there," he said on Tuesday and he specifically stated that major hubs would not be affected "LiveJournal, YouTube and Facebook showcase socially responsible companies. That means that they will be blocked only if they refuse to follow Russian laws, which is unlikely, in my opinion."

This is pure insanity.

"We're shutting down websites we deem inappropriate. This isn't the same as censorship," is what they're essentially saying here.

 

[Dumoras]

Russia's been hanging around with china too much.

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

So Russia is just after taking a huge step backwards // Now the main question is why other sites will fall under this "harmful" banner // They locked two girls up for singing in a church so my guess is their definition of Harmful is different than mine, a lot different

Hell a point may be argued that The Escapist is a harmful site because it contains the rants of Jim Sterling (I'm not saying Jim is harmful, I love his videos but others might see it differently)

-M

 

[Evil Smurf]

In Australia we had a law like that proposed, but we fought it tooth and nail! Damn you Steven Conroy, I will see you in hell!

 

[Timnoldzim]

To prove his point, Vdovin says the law will only target websites to which the Russian government is politically opposed.

So if you've nothing to hide, then you've nothing to fear? Boy, does that sound familiar...

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

Of course it's only a matter of time before MI-6 does the same thing, and one of the many Bonds comes screaming out of the nether in a fiery explosion to kick him in the face then sleep with his wife.

I can't decide if it should be George Lazenby or Sean Connery.

Anyway, I hope that the unwashed masses of the Internet get worked into a tizzy by this. It's always fun to watch, and sometimes good things get done.

 

[shrimpcel]

Hey, look, it must be sensationalism o'clock! The fact that they haven't actually censored anything yet, and have only said that they'll take down websites that most western nations already do apparently doesn't matter because they're Russia, therefore they must be evil!

"Of course there are websites that should not be accessible to children, but I don't think it will be limited to that," said Yuri Vdovin, an official from a human rights organization based in Russia. "The government will start closing other sites - any democracy-oriented sites are at risk of being taken offline."

To prove his point, Vdovin says the law will only target websites to which the Russian government is politically opposed. "There are lots of harmful websites out there already, for example, fascist sites - and they could have easily been closed down by now - but no, [the government] doesn't care, there are no attempts to do so," he said.

"The government hasn't taken down websites which express a political viewpoint... THEREFORE THE GOVERNMENT'S GONNA START TAKING DOWN WEBSITES WHICH EXPRESS POLITICAL VIEWPOINTS!"

What a fucking genius!

i suspect putin is motivated by his dreams of stalin and wanting to crush any and all opposition.

"He's a corrupt politican, and he's Russian... THEREFORE HE MUST LOVE STALIN!"
Look guys, we've got ourselves another genius over here!

You're pretty much the voice of reason here. The amount of reactionary racism and hypocrisy is way too high in this thread.

 

[Don Reba]

In these trying times, it is ever so wonderful to have a censorship-free heaven right here at Escapist.

 

[Shirokurou]

As a Russian, living in Russia, I'd like to say... Holy dramatization, Batman!

I love how news about a law about censoring child pornography can immediately turn into "internet freedoms censorship" just by adding "in Russia" to it.

Don't believe the hype.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Russia, pretending the USSR isn't a thing anymore since 1989.

 

[Don Reba]

Russia, pretending the USSR isn't a thing anymore since 1989.

Why 1989?

 

[Slayer_2]

Russian censorship isn't news anymore

When was it news?

 

[Hannah Chan]

Dear Mr. Tito,

This is an excellent post that highlights the potential problems of Internet censorship. As a bachelor student focusing on communication and society, it is exciting to see how the latest policy and trend about Internet censorship utilize young children. Internet has become the most innovative invention since 1970s and it deserves heaps of praises. However, like many other things, anything can turn bad in the hands of abusers. Knowing that publishing pornographic materials is illegal in real world, would it still be legal if to publish the same thing on the Internet? The flow of information on the Internet creates concerns over whether Internet censorship should be imposed or not. I agree with you Internet censorship is a bad idea and as you indicated, the new Russian law is not only blocking pornography, but also other contents. I read an article, which is about Internet censorship, and is published by The Association for Progressive Communications; it said that the ability to share information and communicate freely via the Internet is human right. However, Internet censorship brings us drawbacks like breach of freedom of speech or expression. Under censorship, the government would screen and determine the most desired information for us. Our way of thinking will be restricted and people in the society will be fostered and conformed to the same mankind.

I understand we may need to protect young people from harmful websites and information, but that is not the desirable influence of censorship. In my opinion, young children should be literate and thoughtful. Young children should learn and develop the sense of determining what is right or wrong by themselves; they need to make their own judgment by analysis and critical thinking. If the government creates a ?blacklist? of websites, young people will lose the opportunity to learn and grow. To keep children away from unwanted materials on Internet, censorship is not the only solution. Parental Control Software would be a better alternative. Not only be able to enjoy information ?screen?, two- way communication can also be built between parents and their children.Last but not least, I agree with you that we should set China as a ? role model? and make prediction about Russian Internet access in the future. Is Russia the next China? How can we find out the ?truth? under censored material? I really hope there could be freedom of information across the world and young people can benefit from using the Internet.