In the late December the lower house of Russian parliament gave its final approval for a bill to ban websites that call for unauthorized protests.

      The bill is expected to expand on legislation passed last year allowing the government to blacklist websites that encourage drug use or suicide, or contain child pornography.

      The bill comes shrotly after Russian President's statement that Russia must not tolerate the kind of protests that have recently rocked the Ukraine. It now needs approval by the upper house of parliament and the President's signature to become law.

      Some 85,000 websites have already been blocked under the law, according to Internet watchdog Rublacklist.net. The Internet Blacklist now also includes sites that promote extremism, incite ethnic or religious strife, or contribute to terrorism.