--- title: "Putin Signs Bill to Create Tightly-Controlled “Russian Internet”" description: "Russian president Vladimir Putin officially signed a bill into law yesterday that would require the country's internet to disconnect from foreign servers." date: "2019-05-02" modified: "2019-05-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/russia-cut-off-internet-bill-law" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "cybersecurity" - "internet" - "Russia" --- # Putin Signs Bill to Create Tightly-Controlled “Russian Internet” ![Russian president Vladimir Putin officially signed a bill into law yesterday that would require the country's internet to disconnect from foreign servers.]() *\Image: Burak K via Pexels/Victor Tangermann\* ## Russia's Wide Web Russian president Vladimir Putin officially signed a bill into law yesterday, according to [documents obtained by *CNN*](), that will move the country toward the creation of a "sustainable, secure and fully functioning" local internet, as the Kremlin referred to it in the documents. During states of emergency, the government would be able to cut off foreign internet entirely. It would give the Russian government extraordinary control over the flow of information, limiting its citizens' access to foreign news and media that are not controlled or overseen by the Kremlin. The new law could further threaten voices of dissent as well — this week's news comes roughly a month after Russia's parliament [signed a new internet law]() allowing authorities to jail those who disrespect government officials online. ## Internet Crackdown It's Russia's latest move to emulate the "Great Firewall of China," which Chinese authorities use to control net. Russian media had reported in 2017 that Russia's Ministry of Communications waned to cut down Russian data routed through foreign servers to just five percent — a high of from 60 percent — [by 2020](). A similar [2014 law]() banned Russian citizens' personal data being held on foreign servers. Last year, Russia started blacklisting a number of websites [including messaging apps]() and disallowed the [use of virtual private networks]() in March of this year. The country had also warned of a brief [shutdown of the internet]() in February to bolster its cybersecurity. **READ MORE:** [Putin signs law to create an independent Russian internet]() \[*CNN*\] **More on Russia:** *[Russia Plans to Cut Itself Off From the Global Internet]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()