The new package of measures 'to protect against fraudsters' will include about 20 initiatives. In particular, it is planned to block calls from abroad and label them. According to Putin, all these proposals 'are being implemented by the government,' writes DW.
The Russian government is working on implementing a ban on telephone calls from 'unfriendly' countries. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with members of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on Tuesday, December 9.
Speaking via video conference, he mentioned among the "specific decisions within the framework of combating telephone and internet fraud," which were previously proposed by the HRC, the "blocking of calls from the territory of unfriendly states that are made for criminal purposes," as well as call labeling. Putin noted that all these proposals "are being taken into account and implemented by the government."
According to him, the first package of measures "to protect citizens in the digital environment" has already been adopted, a second package is being developed and discussed, and a third is planned for the near future.
The same steps were mentioned on the same day by Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Government Apparatus of the Russian Federation Dmitry Grigorenko, who told journalists about the second package of measures "to protect citizens from fraudsters," TASS reports.
Calls from abroad will be banned 'without the subscriber's consent'
According to him, among about 20 initiatives, there are plans to introduce a ban on international incoming calls "without the subscriber's consent" and their mandatory labeling. It is also proposed to introduce children's SIM cards, which will allow parents to "protect children from unwanted content" without the need to submit additional applications.
In recent months, against the backdrop of lobbying for the state messenger Max, Russian authorities have been steadily tightening regulations concerning the operation of messengers and other online services, as well as telephone communication. For instance, in August, calls via WhatsApp and Telegram were restricted in Russia. After that, the State Duma stated that fraudsters allegedly switched to landline communication and proposed to consider the idea of blocking international communication on landline phones in the fight against them.
In early December, it became known that Roskomnadzor blocked Apple's video calling service - FaceTime, justifying this by claiming it is allegedly used for criminal purposes. In November, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation reported that mobile internet and SMS sending would be blocked for returning citizens from abroad for one day.
In the latest version of the list of 'unfriendly' countries, from the perspective of the Russian authorities, there are 47 states and territories. This includes EU countries, the USA, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, and Montenegro.
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