Int'l rules of conduct needed to prevent situations like blocking of Russian media outlets' Facebook accounts - Nikiforov
MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - Russia will insist that the United Nations adopt an international convention to lay down rules of conduct on the Internet and deal with the illegal blocking of online resources, Russian Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said on Thursday.
"Our foreign colleagues, above all American, continue to exhibit their customary practice of double standards. They always apply the norms and regulations that they talk about so much from the high rostrums in a one-sided way. This is why we have elaborated a draft of an international convention to lay down rules of responsible conduct on the Internet, which covers such matters," Nikiforov said in response to Interfax's question about measures to be taken in connection with the blocking of the Facebook accounts of some Russian media outlets.
"We will insist that the rules of responsible conduct be laid down on the level of the UN," Nikiforov said.
The blocking of Facebook accounts is proof that allegations of traditional laws' inapplicability to the Internet are baseless, he said.
"Everything applies. As soon as the White House signs an order, everything gets blocked. We remember how Crimean domains were deleted, etc. Facebook is a company, a legal entity in the United States, and it lives by their laws. This is their jurisdiction and their company," Nikiforov said.
Unless a convention "based on international law is adopted at the UN, there will be risks," he said.
"So far, we are dealing with peaceful situations, but many military doctrines include a response to hacker attacks. They [attacks] could be a pretext for starting an all-out war," Nikiforov said.