http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2008/12/window-on-eurasia-some-in-putins-party.html

In the name of fighting extremism, a group of United Russia Duma deputies has proposed new legislation that would allow the government to impose sanctions on those who distribute what Moscow believes are “extremist” materials via the Internet and to close down the sites they post them on.

But just how expansive their understanding of “extremism” may be and how much of a threat what they are proposing to do poses to the free flow of information is suggested in an article posted on one Moscow analytic site day which defines as “extremist” many things that most people would consider simply to be news and information.
And even though the nature of the world wide web is such that Russian government efforts in this area are unlikely to be fully effective, such moves against what many consider to be the last free media space in Russia represent a further act of intimidation by Vladimir Putin and his associates against the embattled members of civil society in that country.

Five United Russian deputies from the Duma committees on information policy, security and nationality affairs on Wednesday introduced legislation that would among other things define websites as media outlets and subject them to the same regulations that the print media now experience.
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