(Source: http://pikabu.ru/story)

Almost half of Russians are in favor of censorship on the Internet, the majority supports full blockage of the Network in the event of a public emergency or mass protests and stands against the publication of negative information about officials. This is reported by TASS with a reference to the report prepared on the basis of the research by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre and the Centre for Global Communications Studies at Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania (USA).

53 percent of respondents, mainly regular users, called the Internet a positive phenomenon. A third adhered to the opposite point of view. At the same time 42 percent of Russians believe that foreign countries use the Global Network against Russia and its interests, 33 percent said that it “increased the risk of suicide”, and about a quarter think that it “threatens family values and political stability”.

More than 80 percent of the respondents condemned the appeals to political protests and the change of the country’s leadership placed on the Internet, 73 per cent were against the publication of negative information about officials on the Web. According to the report, only 11 percent of Russians believe that the Internet should be free from censorship, the opposite view is shared by 49 percent (including 43 percent of regular users).

Basically citizens propose to censor the materials protected by the copyright, foreign websites, the materials that cause ethnic or racial hatred, as well as porn websites with homosexual content and communities in social networks appealing to anti-government protests. 43 percent of respondents also support the blockage or censorship of bloggers’ websites, including Aleksei Navalny.

The study was conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre in 42 regions of Russia. Statistical error ranges from 3.1 to 4 percent.