Edward Snowden: New Russian ‘Big Brother’ Law Would Savage Privacy and Personal Freedoms
The NSA whistleblower called the law moving through Russia's Legislature an “unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights” that would “take money and liberty from every Russian without improving safety.”
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted Saturday that a new “Big Brother law” making its way through the Russian Legislature is an “unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights” that would “take money and liberty from every Russian without improving safety.”
The legislation passed Russia’s lower house of Parliament 325-1 and will almost certainly be passed by the upper chamber and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. It was ostensibly adopted as a response to the October bombing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt.
The Guardian reports:
The legislation makes it a crime to not warn the authorities of “reliable” information about planned terrorist attacks, armed uprisings, hijacking and several other crimes. Expressing approval of terrorism on the internet will now be punishable with up to seven years in prison.
The legislation obliges telephone and internet providers to store records of all communications for six months and all metadata for three years, as well as help intelligence agencies decode encrypted messaging services. Telecoms firms have complained that users rather than providers typically possess the encryption keys, and that storing this huge amount of information would require expensive new infrastructure.
It also appears to take aim at Kremlin opponents and protesters. The maximum punishment for extremism, a charge that has been increasingly brought against social media users critical of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, will be increased from four to eight years in prison. Encouraging people to take part in “mass disturbances” will become a crime punishable by five to 10 years in prison.
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
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