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Deciphering Russia's "Sovereign Internet Law"
webRelevant to AI governance discussions around state control of digital infrastructure and how authoritarian internet fragmentation models could affect global AI deployment and oversight mechanisms.
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Importance: 38/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
This analysis examines Russia's 2019 'Sovereign Internet Law' (RuNet), which enables the Russian government to isolate its domestic internet from the global web. It explores the law's technical mechanisms, political motivations, and implications for internet fragmentation and state control over digital infrastructure.
Key Points
- •Russia's Sovereign Internet Law allows authorities to disconnect RuNet from the global internet, creating a state-controlled intranet.
- •The law mandates deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to monitor, filter, and reroute internet traffic within Russia.
- •It reflects a broader authoritarian trend of 'internet sovereignty' used to suppress dissent and control information flows.
- •The law has significant implications for global internet governance and the fragmentation ('splinternet') of the open web.
- •Technical and logistical challenges remain in fully implementing the law, but it represents a major escalation in state internet control.
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Deciphering Russia’s “Sovereign Internet Law” | DGAP
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Deciphering Russia’s “Sovereign Internet Law”
Tightening Control and Accelerating the Splinternet
Alena Epifanova
In November 2019, Vladimir Putin’s regime introduced new regulations that create a legal framework for centralized state management of the internet within Russia’s borders. Although full implementation will be extremely difficult, this framework will likely lead to tighter state control over society and additional complications for domestic and foreign companies. The regulations are expected to accelerate the fragmentation of the global internet and to increase Russian reliance on Chinese technology.
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DGAP Analysis 2/2020
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Key Facts:
Germany and the EU should assess the risks and long-term implications of Russia’s new internet legislation for European companies and civil society actors.
EU institutions, particularly the European Commission with its geopolitical focus and ambitions, need to consider devising mechanisms to protect the companies and civil society actors of EU member states from disadvantages created by Russia’s new regulations.
Germany and the EU should actively promote the advantages of the global internet and involve major stakeholders, civil society actors, and business entities in a broad discussion on how to sustain and enhance its future.
The New “Sovereign Internet Law”
New regulations on the internet in Russia, most of which came into force on November 1, 2019 and others of which are due to follow in January 2021, have attracted international attention and been described publicly as Russia’s “sovereign internet law.” In fact, there was no such new law, but rather a series of amendments to the existing federal laws “On Communication” and “On Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection.”
Officially, the amendments aim to protect the internet within Russia from external threats. In fact, they provide the crucial legal framework for creating a centralized management system of the internet by the state authority – theoretically enabling the isolation of Russia’s network from the global internet. These three amendments have particularly far reaching implications:
The compulsory installation of technical equipment for counteracting threats
Centralized management of telecommunication networks in case of a threat and a control mechanism for connection lines crossing the border of Russia
The implementation of a Russian national Domain Name Sys
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