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2014-04-30 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Blogger Law' Sails Through Russian Parliament
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The Federation Council overwhelmingly approved the tighter controls on Russian blogs and websites that attract more than 3,000 daily visits, under legislation the government says is needed to formalize the definition of blogging in Russian law.
Opponents say the law will enable Putin to silence opponents who are rarely given air time on the mostly state-controlled or pro-Putin television channels, and have instead used the Internet to organize protests against the former KGB spy.
The State Duma lower house has already backed the law and it now needs Putin's signature to go into force. Both chambers are dominated by the United Russia party loyal to the president. The new rules will require popular bloggers to register by name with Russia's communications oversight agency and conform to regulations on the mass media.
The Kremlin denies allegations of censorship or pressure on the media and says Russians have the right to express their opinions and stage protests. But Putin has described the Internet as a CIA project and parliament has approved moves requiring social media websites to keep their servers in Russia and save information about users for at least six months.
With 61 million users, Russia is Europe's fastest-growing Internet audience, according to a 2013 report by industry body comScore, and blogs have been seen by Putin's opponents as one of the few popular platforms beyond the Kremlin's reach.
The editor of a popular Internet news site, Lenta.ru, was dismissed this year and independent TV Dozhd has gone off the air. The head of VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, has been ousted and fled the country. The government has also blocked access to the Internet sites of Kremlin critics Alexei Navalny and Garry Kasparov because they "contained calls for illegal activity". 
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Posted by Pappy 2014-04-30 00:00||
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Posted by OldSpook 2014-04-30 00:50||
2014-04-30 00:50||
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Posted by Steve White 2014-04-30 08:37||
2014-04-30 08:37||
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Posted by P2kontheroad 2014-04-30 09:38||
2014-04-30 09:38||
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Posted by KBK 2014-04-30 12:36||
2014-04-30 12:36||
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