Cybersecurity

Russia Considers Tightening Internet Controls to Deter U.S. ‘Punishment’

  • Lawmakers call for centralized control of internet traffic
  • Russian web must work if foreign servers cut, draft law says

The buildings of the Kremlin complex sit beside the Moskva River in Moscow.

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
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Russian lawmakers have submitted proposals to tighten control over the domestic internet.

A draft law sent to the lower house of parliament on Friday would allow officials to “minimize” the level of Russian users’ internet traffic that goes abroad, and centralize control of traffic under the Roskomnadzor communications watchdog if a “threat” emerged to the functioning of the domestic web.