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Internet censorship ‘useless’ - Medvedev

Published time: April 18, 2012 10:39
Edited time: April 18, 2012 14:39
RIA Novosti / Maksim Bogodvid

In his latest video blog entry, President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would never censor the internet, but urged law enforcers to find and punish those who distribute slander or hate materials, or child pornography.

Medvedev stressed that he was not talking about internet censorship as such a thing was

“impossible and simply senseless”

but urged stronger punishment for spreading deliberately false reportsespecially if such information could damage someone’s honor, dignity or business reputation.

The president also promised stronger punishment for spreading child pornography and promoting terrorism, national or religious feuds.

In addition, Medvedev called upon internet users to help make the Russian power system more transparent and efficient.

The outgoing Russian head of state said that “No one but us ourselves will make Russia better.”

“Counting on bureaucrats’ omnipotence and universal knowledge means a lenient attitude to office-connected crimes. In the modern world that is complex and rapidly changing, the state simply does not have enough eyes to watch everything and enough hands to correct every mistake. The country needs you – active and not indifferent people and I seriously count on you,” Medvedev stated.

The president said that the internet must be used in order to make the power structures more open and transparent.

Apart from the cheering and calls for cooperation, the president noted that the state system in Russia is already using the internet in some of its functions – in 2010 and 2011 several draft laws underwent public discussion through specially-designed feedback mechanisms. As a result, the bills submitted to the parliament differed significantly from their initial versions.

Medvedev also acknowledged that practice brought out certain negative moment in internet use that still have to be overcome – for example, comments and ratings allowed “deliberately unacceptable and simply silly” ideas to be submitted and discussed.

He noted that this was the primary reason why the public expertise system required user registration, even though this move reduced the number of participants by several orders of magnitude.

“This is a necessary condition for the work that requires not only initiative, but also responsibility,” Medvedev stressed.

The president also said he deemed it necessary to introduce electronic democracy to the Russian regions in the form of crowdsourcing and referenda, as it was too complicated to solve minor problems through interference from Moscow.

The blog entry was posted after Medvedev held another session of the Big Government – a recently-created large consulting body that is expected to work with actual government after Medvedev becomes prime minister under President Vladimir Putin.

In the blog, Medvedev promised that even after leaving the presidential post he will remain present in social networks and take active part in various discussions.

Comments (21)

Marcelo (unregistered) 20.05.2012 06:01

Can I make a suggestion? I beveile youve obtained something great here. But what need to you added a pair links to a page that backs up what youre saying? Or possibly you can give us one thing to look at, one thing that may connect what youre saying to 1 thing tangible? Only a suggestion. Anyway, in my language, there arene2€™t much great source like this.

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9ke9 19.04.2012 13:19

"Medvedev also acknowledged that practice brought out certain negative moment in internet use that still have to be overcome – for example, comments and ratings allowed “deliberately unacceptable and simply silly” ideas to be submitted and discussed."


This is simply a two part issue a small design issue , and a time issue;

1. the design issue is apparent as an idea should be able to be voted up or down, in a fairly equal flow that simple method would suffice , perhaps with a secondary net to filter the voted down threads for deliberate spamming of actual good ideas, there could be a number of ways that could work, a couple that spring to mind is:

1A. if voted down IP check for spam patterns, then if possible patterns exist tag for human to check thread , if idea is retarded , resolved, if idea not deemed insane, moderator resubmits for review.

The time issue is the fact that the whole structure is a new idea , any first idea is bound to these growing issues , upon a type of critical mass , everything becomes much more even flowing, when talking about pattern submission , but I wouldn't look at a simple registration as a large stumbling block, because (god forbid) my country was looking for feedback, and i had an idea , i wouldn't mind registering to contribute, although some may have privacy concerns, it's still a Government.

a way around that is , also not that difficult:

1. it's done right here on RT, let everyone contribute openly , but have "registered" and "unregistered" contributors, in the end we are talking about pixels on a page.

2. the other is not done on RT , let the contributors sort the data for you; how is this done?

What about if contributors can view threads by "Most Popular" "Least Popular" all sorts of fields "Most Quoted" "Most Replied" "Largest Thread" "Smallest Thread" , "Newest" ,"Oldest" ,"Moderators Favorite",  "Presidents Favorite",  "Threads about Cats" "Threads about Bunnies"...........



"Squi rrel populations"

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Lena (unregistered) 19.04.2012 12:31

Police arrested at least 20 demonstrators gathered Thursday outside a Moscow courthouse where a hearing was scheduled on whether to extend the detention of members of activist punk group Pu$$y Riot.  More than 100 demonstrators and members of the media converged on the Tagansky Court building ahead of a hearing set for 3 p.m. that will decide whether three alleged members of Pu$$y Riot will remain in police custody while investigators continue their inquiry, Interfax reported.
Twenty supporters of Pu$$y Riot have been detained outside the courthouse and put into police vans. Police are arresting anyone who brandishes a sign or puts on a t-shirt with slogans expressing support for the group, Rapsi reported.  Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samusevich are being held for their alleged participation in a Feb. 21 performance by Pu$$y Riot in Christ the Savior Cathedral. They face up to seven years in prison if convicted on charges of hooliganism. Earlier, a court had ordered them held until April 24, but on Wednesday it was announced that investigators would request that their detainment be extended. Lawyers for the accused Nikolai Polozov and Violetta Volkova told Interfax that they would argue for the women's release.

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