MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI) - A new association of Internet users will protect the rights and freedoms of Russian Internet users, the Russian Pirate Party reports on Thursday.

"The Association of Internet Users was established in April 2013 as a response to numerous laws restricting online freedom in Russia, including the freedoms of speech and expression. The association will protect the rights of Internet users," according to a statement on the association's official website Freerunet.Ru.

The association was started by the Agora human rights organization, representatives of the Pirate Party, an association of online publishers, the RuBlackList, an online freedom of speech organization, and a number of experts. Russian Wikipedia CEO Stanislav Kozlovsky and Pirate Party Vice Chairman Stanislav Shakirov are co-chairmen of the association.

Specifically, the Association of Internet Users will protect data and access to knowledge and cultural values online, participation in Internet moderation, education and other issues.

There are several organizations in Russia that deal with Internet development.

They include the Russian Association for Electronic Communications and the Russian branch of the ISOC that opened this month.