New law to achieve unprecedented control over Russian citizens’ communications

Russia, which gave asylum to Edward Snowden after he exposed a vast U.S. surveillance program, is seeking unprecedented controls over its citizens’ communications.

The lower house of parliament in Moscow gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require providers to store recordings of mobile-phone conversations and Internet activity for as long as three years. Since 2012, a series of laws have extended the threat of prosecution to bloggers, allowed authorities to ban websites without a court order and required Russians’ personal data to be stored inside the country. The new draft will need to go through several more readings in the two legislative chambers before President Vladimir Putin can decide whether to sign it into law.