The Federal Mass Media Inspection Service said Tuesday that it would not change the Nov. 1 Internet law allowing the blacklisting of websites containing information harmful to children, but it promised to correct past mistakes.
In a meeting with representatives of the Internet community Tuesday evening, Alexander Zharov, head of the watchdog, said the inspection service has struggled to ensure flawless implementation of the law, Vedomosti reported Wednesday.
Zharov said "glitches" had caused the IP addresses of entire websites, instead of specific pages containing prohibited information, to end up on the federal registry of banned websites last week.
"We will do everything for a speedy resolution of similar mistakes," he said.
Blocking information that is perfectly safe must be made unlawful, said Alla Zabrovskaya, a Google spokeswoman for Eastern and Central Europe.
Irina Levova, an analyst with the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, a nonprofit organization that represents 100 Web companies, said the federal registry of banned websites should be made public and its procedures transparent.
Vladimir Pikov, a spokesman for the media inspection service, said it would consider amending the procedures and rules but that the law is unlikely to change.
The inspection service also appealed for help, asking the Russian Association of Electronic Communications to send out notifications to Web providers and website owners informing them of violations of the new law, something the association is currently considering.
"It is difficult for us to ensure quality work on our own," Pikov said.
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