Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a cup, 2010. REUTERS/Ria Novosti/Alexei Druzhinin.
Speaking today at a media forum in St. Petersburg, Russian president Vladimir Putin said the Internet began as a “CIA project,” and that “is still developing as such.” Russia must “fight for its interests” online, to resist US political and military control. From AP:
A Russian blogger complained to Putin that foreign websites and Yandex, the web search engine which is bigger in Russia than Google, are storing information on servers abroad, which could be undermining Russia’s security. In his reply, Putin mentioned unspecified pressure that was exerted on Yandex in its early years and chided the company for its registration in the Netherlands “not only for tax reasons but for other considerations, too.”