Russia considers legislation to make national Internet independent from the global network in extreme cases

The Russian government is considering mechanisms to control its Internet traffic in similar manner to China. The draft law, which passed the first reading in State Duma, requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to direct data through exchange points listed in a registry maintained by Roskomnadzor (the Russian supervising body in the field of communications) .This means that data passing between Russian citizens and organisations will stay inside the country instead of being routed internationally through loops.The draft law also requires telecom operators to install a special equipment provided by Roskomnadzor that should help to fight the threats for Internet as well as will enable to exercise blocking of web resources from the Russian blacklist by cutting off Internet traffic. One of the alleged reasons is to defend the country’s Internet in the case of an attempt by foreign powers to isolate or disrupt the country’s communications. The legislation is considered controversial because it can also be used to promote censorship as the government will be able to restrict access to external sources of information.