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The fight against extremism in cyberspace will not differ significantly from the principles of combating extremism offline. According to RIA Novosti, this was stated by the chairman of the State Duma committee on information policy, information technology, and communications, Alexei Mitrofanov, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the FSB to block attempts by extremists to use the internet for their propaganda. At the same time, the President noted that effective countermeasures require not only carefully planned special measures but also legal clarity.
“The fight against extremism on the internet will not differ much from the fight against extremism offline. This approach will be maintained, and the same penalties should be applied,” Mitrofanov said. “The feeling that no one sees anything on the internet is a misconception. Everything is analyzed, everything is visible, and there are technological capabilities for this,” he added.
“The era of absolute freedom of the internet is over. When there were two million users, it was neither a political nor an economic factor. But when 45 million people in the country use the internet, it has become a factor, and something needs to be done about it,” Mitrofanov believes.