MOSCOW, December 30 (RAPSI) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill envisaging restriction of access to Internet resources censoring Russian media outlets into law. The document has been published on the official website of legal information.

According to the new law enforcement measures are to be applied with respect to persons involved in violations of basic human rights and liberties and of the rights and liberties of citizens of the Russian Federation; the violations covered by the law include restrictions on access to information on the grounds of nationality, language, origin, property, and office, or in answer to the introduction of other restrictions infringing on the freedom of citizens of the Russian Federation to seek, receive, impart, produce and disseminate information by any lawful means on the part of Internet resources.

Decisions with respect to introducing the sanctions are to be taken by Russia’s Prosecutor General in agreement with the Foreign Ministry.

The initiative was authored by Chair of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Alexander Khinshtein, his first deputy Sergey Boyarsky, the Committee Chair’s deputies Maxim Kudryavtsev, Marina Mukabenova, and Alexander Yushchenko, Committee member Anton Gorelkin, as well as Senator Alexey Pushkov.