Putin Has Signed A Law Which Allows Him To Disconnect Russia From Internet, If He So Desires

Last month, we reported how Russian President Vladimir Putin had given the go ahead for the development of a new Internet capability.

He wanted the entire country to be able to "disconnect" from the web in time of need. He's now signed that into law.

The official line during the test being conducted last month was that the government wanted Runet to be self-sufficient in case of any external cyberattacks. To that end, they set up an alternate network of sorts where all Internet traffic out of Russia would flow through thousands of government-controlled nodes. All of this would be monitored by the telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor from one central command hub, capable of even halting all traffic.

Now, Putin has just signed a 'Runet' law, legally requiring all of the country's ISPs to be able to "completely disconnect" from the rest of the world's Internet. What was only a worrying proposal last month is now officially a terrifying reality.

Because this requires all these ISPs to route all their traffic through the Russian government, Putin now effectively has control over all their access to the Internet. He can, at will, stop Internet communications and news, and plunge the country into a media blackout if he sees fit.

Local telcos are being directed to become compliant with the new law by 2021. And that's when we'll finally see Russia become as obviously dictatorial as China when it comes to controlling the Internet.