Russian governmental body Ministry of communication (MinCom) has developed and proposed a new draft law – amendments to Russian law on information, its protection and informational technologies. These amendments aim to facilitate restriction of access to any web-site in Russia if such web-site contains information, justifying or reasoning extremism or terrorist activity.
To facilitate means restriction of access without court order, in order to win a time. Amendments have been proposed to the article 15.3 the abovementioned law on information. Current wording of article allows blocking of web-sites without court order for calling to extremism, mass disorder and participation in unauthorized gathering and for publishing materials of organisations non grata in Russia.
Currently the criminal law provides liability for public call to terrorism or public justifying of terrorism. Under the justifying of terrorism the law understands “public statement on recognition that ideology and practice of terrorism are right and need to be upheld and complied”. Criminal law for such activity provides the prison term up to seven years. The law on mass media provides the fine for justifying of terrorism up to one million Roubles.