The Investigative Committee of Russia proposes to develop a new procedure for registering users in social networks, Deputy Chairman of the Department Elena Leonenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“In our opinion, the current user identification system does not always allow us to apply timely and effective preventive response measures against those who distribute prohibited content, as well as prevent the use of such content by minors,” Leonenko said.

According to her, at the present time, one of the most important factors is “high-quality monitoring” of prohibited information in social networks and instant messengers and its operational blocking.

Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, in a conversation with RT, also noted the need to increase the proportion of social network users who underwent the identification procedure.

“At the same time, I would additionally attend to the problem of preserving personal data, because under such a condition of increased responsibility and the need to increase available identification data, it is necessary to clearly tighten the security policy on the Internet, to prevent so-called information leaks and often free sale,” she added.

Information security expert Alexei Lukatsky, in a conversation with RT, pointed out the relevance of the problem with ensuring the reliability of information on the Internet.

According to him, the decrease in the number of fakes and prohibited content will occur after there are no anonymous users left on the network.

“With regard to the control of illegal content and the reduction of anonymity, now the pressure will really increase on the owners of social networks, and the introduction of various legislative initiatives to exclude any methods of anonymous access to various resources on the Internet,” he explained.

In turn, an expert in the field of information security Alexander Vlasov noted that in Russia, at least since 2014, work has been underway to find the best way to identify the entrance to social network accounts.

“I think that in the end a method will be found that will be user-friendly and transparent for law enforcement agencies, which will be able to unambiguously identify who opened this or that account on certain social networks,” he told RT.

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At the end of May, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation hosted a round table on the topic “Destructive Content in the Digital Environment: Discussion of Self-Regulatory Measures”, during which experts noted that in modern realities, self-regulation with the participation of the heads of digital platforms and the involvement of members of the public will become the most effective model for combating with illegal content.

“As effective measures to combat toxic information, experts called the creation of barriers that make it difficult to get to such content;

hiding user profiles in social networks from recommendations in the news feed;

disabling monetization for destructive content, etc.

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Note that in February 2021, a law came into force obliging social networks to independently identify and block illegal content.

In April 2022, Irina Rukavishnikova, Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council, proposed making it mandatory to identify users by phone number in social networks and email services operating in Russia.

She expressed the opinion that this measure will put an end to "anonymity bordering on impunity" in the Russian segment of the Internet.

“In any case, if a verified account receives a certain mark, then it can be treated as a reliable source of information.

And, of course, it is very important, with any options for eliminating anonymity on the Internet, not to forget about strict compliance with all the requirements of the legislation on personal data, ”said the senator.