Only 11% of Russians support full freedom in the Internet. The remainder of respondents believes that the government should regulate the World Wide Web and pay attention to the public opinion, at the same time.  

MOSCOW, August 10, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre in partnership with the Center for Global Communication Studies (University of Pennsylvania, USA) present the information describing the Russian attitudes towards the government regulation of the Internet.

Forty-two percent of Russians agree that foreign countries are using the Internet against Russia. Those who think so are 36% of the Internet users and 47% of non-users. Russians are divided in their opinions on the idea that the Internet considerably increases suicide rate: one-third of Russians agree (33%); one-third (33%) disagree; a further 35% failed to give an answer. More than a quarter of respondents (27%) think that the Internet threatens family values. This stance is mainly shared by those who use the Internet rarely or never. About one-quarter of Russians also approve of the idea that   the Internet is a threat to the country`s political stability (24%); this point of view is supported by the non-users (33%). Least of respondents (21%) are confident that the Internet may pose a threat to the demographic situation in Russia; most of them are also those Russians who do not use the Internet.

Russians have strongly negative attitudes towards any Internet content related to violence against children (96%) use of drugs (95%), aggression and violence (94%), sexual minorities (94%), attempts to call to support and join extremist organizations (94%). Both Internet users and non-users share this point of view.  Ambiguous political content is less important for Russians; however, a majority (70%) still perceives negatively the idea to make available the copyrighted material; 73% consider that disclosing negative information about officials in the cyberspace is harmful. Much more Russians have negative opinions regarding websites and social networking groups that organize anti-government protests (79%), or any other content inciting to protest or to change the country`s leadership (81%).  This type of content produces the biggest gap between the assessments of those who use the Internet and those who do not. For instance, 89% of non-users perceive negatively those websites and social networking groups who organized protest actions; the share of such respondents among the Internet users is 72%. Besides, 83% of non-users disapprove of the disclosure of any negative content about state officials; the share of constant Internet users is 66%. Most of Russians have different attitudes toward free access to the copyrighted materials: 84% of respondents who do not use the Internet have negative attitudes, whereas the share of regular Internet users is 59%.

In 2012, Russia has adopted a bill to put dangerous websites on the International black list; 51% of Russians are confident that by doing so the authorities try to protect political stability and safety in the country. Active Internet users often share this stance (57%). At the same time, 13% believe that this is the way how the authorities try to restrict democratic freedoms. More than one-third of Russians (35%) have not heard about this measure.

Only 11% of Russians agree that the information provided through the Internet should be free and should not be censored; the share of the Internet users among such respondents is slightly bigger - 16%. About half of respondents support cyberspace censorship (49%); 43% of them use the Internet; 57% are non-users. Forty percent of Russians say that it depends on the type of information which is distributed.  

More than half of Russians (53%) consider that the government should carry out public consultations and negotiate all decisions. The more respondents use the Internet, the more they are likely to support this stance. One-third of Russians (33%) believe that the government bodies should take into account the public attitude on this issue, but the final decision should be taken by the authorities. Eight percent of Russians say that there is no need to do so.

Russians were also asked about the circumstances under which the suspension of the Internet could be tolerated. Many Internet users (58%) would not oppose the government ban on the Internet use in certain situations such as emergency situation (48%), or mass protests (9%); 1 % pointed out other reasons. Forty-two percent of Russians oppose any strict measures. Restrictions are mainly supported by respondents living in small and average Russian cities (66% and 65, respectively). On the contrary, residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg disapprove of strict measures no matter what the circumstances are (60%).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted July 25-26, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.

The VCIOM opinion poll was carried out in partnership with the Center for Global Communication Studies (University of Pennsylvania, USA) in May, 2014; 1600 persons from 130 settlements in 42 regions of Russia were interviewed. The sample is representative with respect to gender, age, education, type of settlement, and employment. The statistical error does not exceed 3.1% at a 99% level of confidence for Internet users and 4.0% at a 95% level of confidence for non-users.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!