Big Tech’s efforts to restrict user access to various Internet platforms are a serious challenge, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with leaders of parliamentary factions on Wednesday.
He responded to the recent statements made by Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma (lower house), who put the spotlight on Big Tech’s violation of freedom of speech.
“What you said about these so-called platforms, IT companies, is a serious challenge not only for us – we see what has happened in the [United] States,” Putin noted. According to him, it is quite obvious that such an “ideological divide” runs throughout the world.
“If they behave like that in their country, then how will they treat others, given that they consider themselves exceptional? This is a serious issue. And, of course, we should think about how to deal with it,” the Russian leader reasoned.
And it didn’t take long for Russia to take measures against the big tech.
This morning the Russian Federation Council, has passed a law on fines for censorship against Russian media and citizens.
The law will also be extended to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in response to censorship against Russian media on foreign social networks.
Australia also started a fight against the big tech!
Australian officials say they’re forging ahead with efforts to make tech giants pay for news content even after Facebook imposed a media blackout there.
“We’ll be proceeding with the code,” Communications Minister Paul Fletcher told Australia’s ABC News on Thursday. “We want Google and Facebook to stay in Australia, but we’ve been very clear that if you do business in Australia you need to comply with the laws passed by the elected parliament of this nation.”
Fletcher joined other top officials in decrying Facebook’s decision to block Australian users from viewing or sharing news content on the platform.
The stunning move was a response to Australia’s proposed news media bargaining code, which would…
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