The Russian Federation Council held parliamentary hearings, Current Issues of Providing Security and Development for Children in the Information Space. The hearings were attended by representatives of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ.
The event was led by Federation Council First Deputy Speaker Nikolai Fyodorov. He said that this was not the first time the council has addressed child protection in the information space. “We must not hamper progress or the distribution of modern technology, but children should be prepared for life in information space. At the same time, adults as well, should continue to learn and explore digital reality,” Fyodorov said.
Lyudmila Bokova, deputy chair of the Federation Council Committee for Constitutional Law and State Development, chair of the council’s interim commission on the development of an information society, presented recommendations to protect children in the information space. The recommendations were developed by representatives from 53 Russian regions. Over 450 proposals were made by 13 state agencies. Over 50 experts of the interim commission, including IT experts, were involved in the work.
The head of social and public projects at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ,, Denis Zhilin, spoke about the center’s initiative to include the Explore The Internet & Govern It! project in the list of materials recommended for additional computer science lessons in schools. He also asked the Ministry of Education and Science to assist in involving Russian school teams in the annual national online championships. The coordination center also requested that the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Culture support registering children’s websites in the Russian TLD .ДЕТИ.
Other speakers included president of InfoWatch Group and Kaspersky Lab co-founder Natalya Kasperskaya; Head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) Anna Popova; Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov; Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva; State Duma Deputy Speaker Irina Yarovaya; Chairman of the Vladimir Region Legislative Assembly and representative of the Commission of the Russian Legislators Union for Information Policy, IT and Investment Vladimir Kiselyov; Chair of the Russian Civic Chamber Commission for the Support of Family, Motherhood and Childhood Diana Gurtskaya, as well as representatives of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, Russia Investigative Committee, mobile service providers, public organizations, and the expert community.
