The French-based group categorized Russia as "Under Surveillance" in its Internet censorship report, which means that the government has threatened Internet freedom.
The report stated that Russia features on the list, which also contains France and Australia, because it "has used cyber-attacks and has arrested bloggers and netizens [Internet citizens] to prevent a real online political debate."
CIS countries Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were named "Enemies of the Internet," a title that indicates state use of "drastic content filtering with access restrictions, tracking of cyber-dissidents and online propaganda."
The non-governmental organization, which defends journalists' rights and fights censorship, ranked Russia 142nd out of 179 countries in its 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index.
