Russia’s State Duma passes law allowing FSB to block individual communications

Russia’s State Duma has passed a bill compelling telecom operators to disconnect individual customers from both mobile phones and internet access upon instruction from the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russian news agency TASS reported on Tuesday. 

Having passed the bill in its first reading in January, Russia’s lower house of parliament also voted in favour of the legislation in its second and third readings on Tuesday. It will now go to Russia’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, for approval before being signed by Vladimir Putin.

After amendments made in the bill’s first reading, the new law stipulates that the FSB would be able to send “requirements” rather than “requests” to telecoms operators instructing them to block individual access to data networks and mobile communications whenever they deem it appropriate, and removing language requiring there to be a “security threat” before somebody can be deprived of their online access.

Speaking to independent Russian outlet, Agentstvo, Valeria Vetoshkina, a lawyer working for Russian human rights group OVD‑Info, said that the bill would significantly expand the FSB’s authority, and that any block on telecoms it decided to action would be more centralised and subject to fewer constraints.

Cybersecurity lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan told Agentstvo that the final text of the bill placed the power to impose restrictions solely in the hands of Vladimir Putin, while another lawyer, Yevgeny Smirnov, added that the amendments would allow communications to be restricted for reasons that go beyond the previously stated “security threats”.