Russian officials may ban WhatsApp and Google

Photo: AFP



On November 17, State Duma Deputy Vadim Soloviev proposed that domestic officials ban foreign messengers and search engines. This is done in order to ensure the safety of official information and confidentiality of information, writes "RBC". Solovyov proposes to make the appropriate amendments to Article 17 of the Law “On the State Civil Service in the Russian Federation”.



This article prescribes bans for persons in the civil service. The article is proposed to supplement the provision prohibiting the use by officials of "software and communication tools that can be used for unauthorized access to confidential information or proprietary information." According to the deputy, with the help of foreign intelligence services of other countries can “relatively easily obtain confidential information”.



The deputy said that the term "foreign services" means the search engines Google and Yahoo, as well as the WhatsApp messenger. However, in the document itself, the list of programs, the access to which is proposed to be restricted for officials, is not specified. According to Solovyov, this list should be determined by an additional presidential decree.

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The idea of ​​the bill, according to the deputy, appeared after the corresponding proposal of Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. An official at the end of August proposed banning Russian officials from working with foreign services. Patrushev made this statement at a meeting in Vladivostok.



The bill has Solovyov and opponents. In particular, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Leonid Levin, commented on this initiative: “There is a law on the state service, the special services have their own rules. I see no reason to further regulate this sphere. ”