Putin says he supports “minimal” Internet restrictions

President Vladimir Putin said he was in favor of only “minimal” restrictions on the Internet, but added that he expected Russian citizens to respond with a forceful promotion of Moscow’s views to any “hostile” publications online. Putin made the comments during a meeting with young IT professionals taking part in the National Education Youth Forum.

In the meeting, which was held Tuesday in the Vladimir region, Putin also promised to “think about” delaying implementation of a law that requires online companies to store Russian users’ data in Russia, the Kremlin said in a statement Tuesday.