The Russian government wants to ban encrypting Internet traffic
The Russian government has submitted to the State Duma a draft law banning encryption technologies that allow bypassing Roskomnadzor blocks.
Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev stated this in an interview with RTVI, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Now there is a certain system for accessing website addresses. The entire parental lock control system works based on these principles. But large companies felt that there was an opportunity to make the process of accessing sites more secure. They encrypt traffic that calls a specific site, and the telecom operator does not see which site you accessed. The locking system stops working.
In this sense, user safety certainly increases. The user feels more anonymous. But there is also a downside to this coin. That's it for parental controls. For example, I have two little daughters and it is clear that if this mode works, I will not be able to enable the mode for blocking the loading of certain sites for them. The Roskomnadzor system works like this,” Shadayev said.
He admits that the bill outlined a conflict of public and personal interests.
“As a user, I want to feel more anonymous and secure. But there are entire groups of public interests when we say, listen, well, we don’t want child pornography, extremist content to be distributed. There is a conflict between the interests of the individual and the interests of society in the broad sense. Perhaps the bill we have proposed is a little linear. But the discussion that we provoked will help find a balance,” Shadayev said.
The Russian government wants to ban internet traffic encryption.