Russia To Tame U.S. Social Media Platforms Through New Set Of Laws
Dated : 03 Jan 2021 (IST)
Heat on rampaging U.S. social media platforms is now blowing from Russia where the lower house of parliament inked a series of bills this week cracking down on sites that totally discriminates against Russian media.
Twitter labels some Russian media ‘state-affiliated,’ for instance, which Moscow objects to naturally. As if the rest of the World is not aware of the manipulations done by paid Western Media.
Russian laws — which will lead to control on the Western Media which by blocking or slowing down of leading U.S. social media sites in the country — draw on existing complaints from the U.S. where lawmakers and others particularly on the right have raised up enough accusations that the platforms are biased.
Opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny, who has accused government agents of trying to poison him in August, use the social media platforms to by pass the Russian media and try and bias the opinion of Russians population directly.
Putin’s government is focused on enhancing Russia’s internet sovereignty, to counter Western unlimited propaganda. Another Russian bill would fine companies up to 20% of annual revenue in Russia for failing to remove banned content.
The package also includes measures that would crack down on online slander and on leaks regarding federal security personnel. Others would allow Putin, who was meant to leave office in 2024, run for two more six year terms, allow the government to ban rallies in emergencies and to prohibit their funding by foreign agents.
The bills were passed by Russia’s lower house, the State Duma.
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have added warning labels to posts by President Donald Trump and his allies with increasing frequency this year, including the volley of unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud in the November election.
The president has threatened to repeal Section 230, a decades old statute that protects platforms from legal liability for most content that runs.
Most recently, the president attempted to revoke Section 230 using a defense bill but was rebuffed by Congress. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell just revived it in an unlikely wildcard bill connected with aid checks.
