A Great Firewall of Russia? Kremlin puts key bricks into place.

Officially, Russia's new Sovereign Internet Law is aimed at addressing problems that are vexing governments globally: the proliferation of “fake news” and illegal content, the disturbing reach of extremist voices on the internet, and the threat of cyberattack from outside the country.

But Russian free speech advocates and civil society activists say the law has a concerning hidden agenda: to massively boost the ability of authorities to keep track of any social protest movements that may arise, block their ability to communicate via cyberspace, and shut down whole sections of the country’s internet if they deem that necessary to prevent the spread of unwanted news.

It’s not quite

‘They have no idea’‘This is about managing the Russian net’