Russia Wants Internet Kill Switch After NSA Spy Scandal

The head of Russia’s cyberspace policy today called for global governments to react to the NSA spy scandal by creating a United Nations-style body that would have regulatory control over the Internet – including a web kill switch. During a speech at a specially arranged meeting initiated by the upper house of the Russian parliament, Information Society Development Commission head Ruslan Gattarov called for a newly created group to control the world wide web, “So that everyone, not only the US, has access to the master switch.”

Under the Department of Homeland Security’s “Emergency Wireless Protocols,” (Standard Operating Procedure 303 or “SOP 303), the federal agency also claims the power to shut down all communications, including the Internet, in the event of a national crisis. Many have questioned why the US should be trusted with an Internet kill switch under the justification of cybersecurity when America itself has admittedly been behind a number of major cyber attacks over the last few years.