“We can block Twitter or Facebook in Russia for a few minutes tomorrow”

“Tomorrow we can block Twitter or Facebook in Russia for a few minutes. We do not see big risks in this. ”
- Maxim Ksenzov, Deputy Head of Roskomnadzor

An interview with Maxim Ksenzov, the deputy head of Roskomnadzor, was published in Izvestia.

The interview is just a storehouse of the rich brain activity of a person who uses Twitter and wants to ban it.
Then just give quotes.
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This law [on bloggers] for the first time introduces the very concept of “blogger” into the legal field and classifies bloggers as subjects who, by spreading mass information, have a number of rights and must fulfill certain requirements . These requirements are similar to media requirements. But this does not mean that a legal equal sign can be put between a blogger and a professional journalist.

What rights do bloggers now have? The answer is:

Bloggers get the right to securely seek and distribute information enshrined in the law and in this regard become subjects of interaction, for example, with government agencies.

- If we talk about Russian popular bloggers who live abroad, but are hosted on our resources - will they also fall under the law?

- Obviously, yes. The law is not tied to a residence permit in the passport. If a person writes in Russian or in the languages ​​of the peoples of Russia, expects to attract the attention of the Russian audience and uses the capabilities of the Russian sites for this, then he will need to fulfill the legal requirements.

Twitter in most cases, to remove illegal information categorically refuses. A lot of extremist content is distributed just in this network. One of the few accounts, the removal of which we were able to achieve, published monstrous things. It was conducted in Russian, there was information about Syria with photos of executed people, with calls for the overthrow of the current political regime and the destruction of capitalism as a system.

The employee who is responsible for interaction with other countries there is a former adviser to the US Secretary of Energy. In itself, such a personnel decision leads to certain thoughts.

By consistently refusing to fulfill our requirements, they specifically create conditions in which the blocking of this resource in our country’s territory becomes almost inevitable.

- The prohibitive measures, favored in Russia, the only possible way to regulate the Internet in our country?

- I do not like the phrase "prohibitive measures." I would call those legal measures taken in Russia regarding the Internet protective.

But the best way to protect society from alien influence is to create your own quality product. This product should not just replace the Western resources in the Chinese-style, and make them worthy of competition, including in international markets.

The Russian Internet industry at the present stage has everything for a qualitative breakthrough. Few places in the world can meet the domestic Internet market, in which several mail services, search engines, and even operating systems already compete with each other.

Tomorrow we can block Twitter or Facebook in Russia for a few minutes. We do not see big risks in this.

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Looking at all this, I remember one dialogue from Atlas Shrugged.

- You, honest people, are a big problem and a headache. But we knew that sooner or later you would slip, and this is what we need.
- It seems you are pleased with this.
- Do I have no reason for this?
“But in the end, I broke one of your laws.”
- Why do you think they are being created? Do you really think that we want these laws to be enforced? - continued Dr. Ferris. - We want to be broken. You should understand that in front of you is not a team of scouts, and then you will understand that our age is not a century of beautiful gestures. Now is the time of power and authority. You played a cautious game, but we know the real trick, and you need to learn it. It is impossible to control innocent people. The only power that any government has is the right to use cruel measures against criminals. Well, when there are not enough criminals, they are created. So many things are declared criminal, that it becomes impossible to live without breaking the laws. Who needs a state with law-abiding citizens? What does it give to someone? But it is enough to issue laws that are impossible to fulfill, implement, objectively interpret, and you create a state of lawbreakers and make money from fault. That's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and if you understand it, it will be much easier to deal with you.

Maybe it's time to straighten your shoulders too?