Reuters * Edition: IN + Arabic + Argentina + Brazil + Canada + China + France + Germany + Italy + Japan + Latin America + Mexico + Russia + Spain + United Kingdom + United States Search News & Quotes__________ Submit * Home * Business + Business Home + Economy + Technology + Summits + Summit Notebook + Deals + Business Video + Company Results & Outlooks * Markets + Markets Home + India Markets + US Markets + Indices + Stocks + Stock Screener + Currencies + Commodities + Funds * India + Top News + Budget 2013 + India Insight * World + World Home + South Asia + FaithWorld + World Video * Tech + Technology Home + MediaFile + Science + Tech Video * Opinion + Opinion Home + Chrystia Freeland + Felix Salmon + The Great Debate + Expert Zone + India Masala + Money on the Markets + Financial Regulatory Forum + Macroscope + FundsHub + Nicholas Wapshott + Bethany McLean + David Rohde + Nader Mousavizadeh + Edward Hadas + Hugo Dixon + Ian Bremmer + Lawrence Summers + Susan Glasser * Breakingviews + Equities + Credit + Private Equity + M&A + Macro & Markets + Politics * Money + Money Home + Alerts + Watchlist + Portfolio + Stock Screener + VantageTrade + Linda Stern + Mark Miller + John Wasik + James Saft * Sport & Life + Sports + Cricket + Soccer + Golf + Motor Sports + Lifestyle + Bollywood + Entertainment + Oddly Enough + Health + Arts + Lifestyle Video * Pictures + Pictures Home + Reuters Photographers + Full Focus * Video * Article Follow Reuters * Facebook * Twitter * RSS * YouTube * Most Popular * Most Shared 1. India "concerned" by China role in Pakistan's Gwadar port 06 Feb 2013 2. Google to buy marketing services company for $125 million 06 Feb 2013 3. RBI considers more gold import curbs 06 Feb 2013 4. India says budget cuts won't delay Rafale talks 06 Feb 2013 5. Chidambaram warns on defence cuts 06 Feb 2013 1. Images from Hubble 06 Feb 2013 2. Ghost fair 05 Feb 2013 3. Small tsunami hits Solomons after major quake 06 Feb 2013 4. Starbucks in Delhi 06 Feb 2013 5. Editor's choice 05 Feb 2013 Russian lawmakers vote to increase Internet control IFRAME: http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fin.reuters.c om%2Farticle%2F2012%2F07%2F11%2Frussia-internet-law-idINL2E8IB3F3201207 11&layout=standard&show_faces=false&width=450&action=recommend&colorsch eme=light&height=35 * Tweet Link this Share this * Duma passes new information law blacklisting some websites * Ruling party says bill aims to fight child pornography * Critics see bill as Putin crackdown on Internet freedom By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya MOSCOW July 11 (Reuters) - Russia's lower... Email Print Related Topics * Regulatory News >> Stocks Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:31am IST * Duma passes new information law blacklisting some websites * Ruling party says bill aims to fight child pornography * Critics see bill as Putin crackdown on Internet freedom By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya MOSCOW July 11 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament approved a law on Wednesday that the opposition says could be used to censor the Internet and crack down on one of the last forums of open political debate under President Vladimir Putin. His United Russia party says the law, passed in the third and final reading by the State Duma, is needed to combat child pornography. It will create a single register of websites containing information deemed harmful or illegal from Nov. 1. But the new law has caused alarm among the opposition and the Russian version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia closed its web pages on Tuesday for a day in protest. [ID: nL6E8IA0P9] Opposition leaders said the new law could be used to shut down websites such as Facebook and Twitter without a court order and that it was meant to stymie their protest movement, which uses social network sites to arrange anti-Putin demonstrations. Russian search engine Yandex on Wednesday displayed a link to a statement saying the bill needed to be discussed with Internet experts. "The proposed methods of child protection allow for potential misuse and raise numerous questions from Internet users and companies," said Ochir Mandzhikov, a Yandex spokesman. "In a bill like this, it is necessary to maintain the balance of public interests while taking into account the technological aspects of the Internet," he said in an e-mail. The official blacklist is intended to include domains of web pages containing pornographic images of children, instructions on how to make, use and where to get drugs, as well as sites calling for suicides and describing suicide methods. Under the law, which was softened slightly following criticism, more sites may be added to the list based on either a court decision or with the approval of authorised federal executive bodies. Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov told a news conference that the law needed more work but should not interfere with freedom of information. "We support the idea of the law as a whole in what concerns the need to provide the means for fighting phenomena such as child pornography. At the same time, we find that the proposed mechanisms are not entirely complete," he said. "The fight against child pornography must not create problems with the main principle of the Internet - open access to information," he added. United Russia, which proposed the bill, dismissed criticism of the law as "groundless". Passage of the law, which needs to be signed by Putin before it secures final approval, followed the introduction of a measure increasing fines for protesters. Parliament is also discussing legislation that would tighten controls on rights and campaign groups funded from abroad. All three laws are seen by the opposition as part of a campaign to stifle protests against Putin, a former KGB spy who has been in power for 12 years as prime minister or president. The Kremlin denies planning any such crackdown. Regulatory News IFRAME: http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fin.reuters.c om%2Farticle%2F2012%2F07%2F11%2Frussia-internet-law-idINL2E8IB3F3201207 11&layout=standard&show_faces=false&width=450&action=recommend&colorsch eme=light&height=35 * Tweet this * Link this * Share this * Digg this * Email * Reprints Comments (0) This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication. * Edition: IN + Arabic + Argentina + Brazil + Canada + China + France + Germany + Italy + Japan + Latin America + Mexico + Russia + Spain + United Kingdom + United States Back to top Reuters.com * Business * Markets * India * Technology * Opinion * Money * Pictures * Videos * Site Index * Mobile Legal * Bankruptcy Law * California Legal * New York Legal * Securities Law Support & Contact * Support * Corrections Connect with Reuters * Twitter * Facebook * LinkedIn * RSS * Newsletters About * Privacy Policy * Terms of Use * [javascript] AdChoices * Copyright [tr-source-txt.gif] Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation * Thomsonreuters.com * About Thomson Reuters * Investor Relations * Careers * Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here. [p?c1=2&c2=&c3=&c4=&c5=&c6=&c15=&cj=1] DCSIMG IFRAME: __bkframe