Jokes aside: the Federation Council is preparing a retaliatory strike against the US Internet monopoly
The Federation Council of the Russian Federation unanimously adopted a Statement in connection with the violation of the principle of freedom of speech by global American Internet companies.
Document No. 13 was presented by the Chairman of the Federation Council Temporary Commission on Information Policy and Interaction with the Media Aleksey Pushkov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The Federation Council strongly condemns the actions of global American Internet companies that, for political reasons, without legal grounds and contrary to international law, restrict freedom of speech on social networks on the Internet. The development of events after the elections in the United States of America showed that the Internet giants have embarked on the path of widespread use of censorship.
This contradicts the principles of democracy and the generally recognized right of citizens to search and disseminate information. They also resort to illegal blocking of alternative platforms.
In the context of the subordination of social networks to US political goals, there is a threat of imposing on their users on a global scale a one-sided, biased view of current events not only in the United States, but throughout the world,” Pushkov said.
At the same time, he highlighted as a particular danger that restrictions on freedom of speech are introduced not in accordance with the law, but by decision of the heads of Internet companies, and therefore they are arbitrary and have no legal basis.
“Thus, outside the legal framework, there is a restriction on the information of hundreds of millions of Internet users. It should be especially emphasized that we are talking about monopoly control over the global network by companies representing one country - the United States of America. These companies are closely linked to American government agencies, and this risks asserting the dominance of one state over most of the world's network exchanges.
The illegal decisions made by the leaders of American social networks confirm that the usurpation of control over the Internet is not a threat, it is already a reality. Moreover, such control is a powerful weapon, and it can be used not only to attack civil liberties in the United States, but can be directed against other countries, including for the purpose of influencing public sentiment, provoking internal political crises, and influencing the will of citizens and on the outcome of the elections,” the senator noted.
“The draft states that Russian senators consider unacceptable the position of American Internet companies that strictly censor objectionable political opinions, but at the same time do not fulfill their obligations to combat the spread of false information, including encouraging Russian citizens to take part in unauthorized protests.” promotions
In these conditions, the Federation Council draws the attention of legislative bodies of all countries of the world to the relevance and necessity of developing national legislation to limit the omnipotence and arbitrariness of global Internet companies,” explained Pushkov.
He emphasized that it is impossible to allow individual decisions of the heads of Western Internet companies to replace the laws of sovereign states.
“Regulation of the activities of Internet companies is the legal and inalienable right of every state to protect its information space and the right of citizens to freely receive and disseminate information.
In this regard, we call on the UN Secretary General, the Director General of UNESCO, the relevant mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media to give priority attention to the task of limiting the arbitrariness of American global Internet companies in order to prevent the threat their establishment of a digital dictatorship,” the speaker added.
The document states that this issue should be the subject of the most serious consideration at meetings of the UN General Assembly.
“The recent threats of uncontrolled dominance of global Internet companies make it urgently necessary to begin work on an international convention regulating their activities. The World Wide Web must remain a space of freedom of speech and freedom of information, regulated by law, and not an instrument of policy of one state and media monopolies closely associated with it,” concluded Alexey Pushkov.
In turn, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko noted the relevance and timeliness of this statement, while calling for a move from words to actions.
“Of course, we need to establish full cooperation with all international organizations so that the recommendations voiced are recognized. But in addition to this, we must also deal with what is happening in our own country. We have enough laws, why is it permissible for such companies to violate Russian legislation and operate in our country?
The Temporary Commission for the Prevention of Interference in the Internal Affairs of Russia and relevant committees need to constantly monitor this situation and respond. Because, in addition to statements, we need concrete actions to suppress this kind of activity, and we are worse off with this.
Therefore, I ask you to think through how we will monitor the situation and what response actions to take so that everyone who is and works on the territory of the Russian Federation strictly acts within the framework of Russian legislation, and inform the chamber about the measures taken. This has become acutely relevant today,” the speaker ordered.
During the quantitative voting, the draft resolution was supported by all 147 senators.
English version :: Read in English Jokes aside: the Federation Council is preparing a counterattack on the US internet monopoly.