Press Release, 02.10.2014

The activists of the Moscow branch of Youth Yabloko conducted one-person picketing against limiting access to the Internet in Russia. The activists held placards which said “Security Council plans to restrict the Internet: welcome to North Korea”, “Why do we need the Internet when we have Russian Post?”.

The Security Council of Russia had a meeting on October 1 where the possibility of limiting the access to the Internet was discussed. Earlier Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov had commented that Russia’s authorities didn’t plan to limit the access to the Internet in Russia but the USA could do it as the new sanctions, that’s way the Security Council planned to discuss safety precautions in case that happened.

Following the results of the meeting, Vladimir Putin said Russia was not planning to limit access to the Internet or put it under “total control,” but would need to ensure the stability and security of its Russian segment.

“Putin used to say that Crimea was Ukraine’s internal affair. We’ve seen what it resulted in, therefore we don’t believe Putin”, said Youth Yabloko’s Nikolai Kavkazsky.

The activists are aware that the authorities may restrict the Internet in case mass actions of protest and civil campaigns take place. “The aim of Russia’s authorities is to establish the one-ideology system in Russia, therefore the federal TV channels show the only “correct” point of view. However, those few citizens of Russia who participate in peace marches get the information on what’s going on in the world from the Internet, that’s why the authorities want to ban the Internet and accuse the Americans of it as usual”, commented Youth Yabloko’s activists.

The action went in the format of a performance. The activists lay down on the ground to protest against the possibility of the Internet ban. “The situation in the country demands new methods of expressing protest. We used to stand during one-person picketing, now we decided to lie down in support of the Internet”, said the activists.