The collective West has recently organized the largest-ever act of mass totalitarian censorship in the global information space against the Russian media, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel on Tuesday.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at a press conference on the results of the year, called for rules to regulate the degree of responsibility of social networks for the content they distribute. He said he would be "shocked to see press freedom threatened." "Would he be shocked if he saw it? Hasn't he seen it until now? Or didn't want to see? Or wasn't allowed to see? Or wasn't shown?" Zakharova wondered.
"Through the efforts of the collective West, we have witnessed a blatant act of mass totalitarian censorship, the most sweeping of any in history. Entire segments of the global information space have been virtually cleansed of the Russian media presence," the diplomat said. - "Every conceivable form of restriction was applied to Russian sources of information, and the global IT giants actively joined in. This year alone, more than 40 Russian media outlets have been blocked or shut down, and unwanted journalists and entire editorial offices of "incorrect" media outlets have been systematically subjected to pressure from the security services, criminal prosecution, outright harassment, and even physical abuse."
Zakharova also reminded that for many years Russia has been calling for the development of a legal basis for the functioning of the Internet space and has adopted relevant legal norms inside the country. At the same time, the foreign ministry spokeswoman pointed out that the West reacted "nervously, to put it mildly," to the adoption of an appropriate legal framework in the Russian Federation. "We traditionally have spoken in favor of the need to eliminate the legal vacuum in the context of social networks. Exactly what the UN secretary-general is now stating. But our position has been constantly criticized by adherents of the neoliberal approach of permissiveness," she added.
In this regard, the diplomat suggested returning to the discussion of the Russian senators' initiative to develop an international convention regulating the activities of global Internet companies, "which has been collecting dust on the desk of the UN secretary-general for almost two years."
"There is an urgent need to intensify joint efforts to formulate generally accepted norms that will put the activities of Internet platforms on a solid foundation of international law. It is necessary to reach an agreement and solve the urgent problem before it is too late," Zakharova summarized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS