Russian senators propose to protect underage children from damaging information on the global network with the help of Internet parental control.
Relevant amendments to the Law on the Protection of Children Against Damaging Information were proposed by a member of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, and Information Policy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Ruslan Gattarov. In an interview with the Voice of Russia he said that while concluding an agreement with clients, line operators would have to inform them about the possibility of using parental control The Internet has been an inseparable part of children’s life for a long time now. However, the fact remains that young users usually find themselves in the most dangerous situation while surfing the net. Pornography, violence and the like damage children’s psyche. The majority of parents understand this perfectly well but only a few of them know what should be done to protect their children from such information. There are various types of software that prove helpful in posing parental control, Senator Ruslan Gattarov said in an interview with the Voice of Russia. "The bill I have proposed is aimed exactly at the protection of children. It works in the following way: when an Internet provider signs an agreement with clients and ensures access to the Internet, it should inform them that there are parental control systems that are used to filter out damaging information. For this special software which then works automatically is installed. This means that parents can sleep quietly, knowing that their children are protected." Today line operators, acting in compliance with the users’ wishes, restrict access to websites containing extremist and other damaging materials. The initiative of Senator Ruslan Gattarov can be used as an “alternative” to the idea of a “soft Internet” - that is, filtering out damaging websites per default. "This is not censorship. We simply inform parents that there is a possibility of using parental control. A similar law is in force in the USA. We have studied foreign experience and brought it into conformity with the Russian legislation. Besides, the majority of line operators who offer the services of Internet providers have supported this initiative because everybody understands that this is a civilized way of protecting children from damaging information." As you might remember, the amendments to the Law on Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development were adopted last summer. They provide for the creation of a register of websites containing banned information as well as for the introduction of a blocking procedure. According to this document, both TV channels and radio stations should provide age restriction marks. Source: Voice of Russia
