A new “weapon” for the FSB, adopted in emergency procedure: It will be able to leave Russians without Internet and mobile communications
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Photo: – / Sputnik / Profimedia
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) will be able to order provider companies to cut off internet and mobile connections, under an amendment passed by parliament in emergency procedure on Tuesday, according to dpa.
The amendment to the communications law was quickly passed through second and third readings by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, in an emergency session.
The Russian press reported that the wording that established that decisions of this kind can be taken to protect citizens and the state from security threats were removed from the final text, and in the current form only the reasons must be specified, Agerpres wrote.
Mobile telecommunications providers will be exempt from liability if users complain about the outages, according to Russian news agency TASS.
In Russia, mobile connections have been interrupted several times in the context of threats posed by Ukrainian drone attacks in the area of airports. Russian authorities have also blocked thousands of websites.
The amendment must be promulgated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and will enter into force within 10 days of this step, considered a formality.
The remit of the FSB, Russia's main security service and the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, has been greatly expanded in the presidential terms of Vladimir Putin, who led the institution before his rise to politics. He was also a KGB officer in the past.
