Russian media reports say President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty” into law.

Recall, Russian lawmakers endorsed a draft legislation that could cut off Russia from the global internet on April 11.  Lawmakers said the law will defend the country against foreign aggression, serving as insurance, in case Russia’s global Internet access is shut off from abroad.

The law envisions the ‘Runet’ – the Russian segment of the internet – being able to operate independently from the rest of the world in case of global malfunctions or deliberate internet disconnection.  The measures to ensure internet stability include the creation of a national DNS system that stores all of the domain names and corresponding IP numbers.

It proposes creating a center to “ensure and control the routing of internet traffic” and requires that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) install “technical measures to withstand threats”.

It also mandates regular “drills” to test whether Russia’s internet can function in an isolated mode.

The new legislation was reportedly drafted in response to the new US cyber strategy that accuses Russia, along with China, Iran, and North Korea, of using cyber tools to “undermine” its economy and democracy.  It also threatens dire consequences for anyone conducting cyber activity against the US.

The concept appears similar to China’s Great Firewall, which regulates internet operations in view of reinforcing national sovereignty.  

Although Russia’s state-run media regulator and major tech firms backed the steps to unplug from foreign servers, experts criticized the bill as being too vague and impossible to implement.

Critics say the bill shows the authorities’ continued efforts to limit internet freedoms despite the huge public and private cost.

According to The Moscow Times, a recent state-run poll found that 52 percent of Russians oppose the bill.