Vladimir Putin says Wikipedia ought to be banned and replaced by a Russian version to deliver 'reliable information.'

'It's better to replace it with the Great Russian Encyclopedia in electronic form … here it will be in any case, reliable information in a good modern form.' Putin told the Russian Language Council on Tuesday, according to RIA.

The Kremlin announced £20million plans for its Russian alternative to Wikipedia in September to be completed by 2022.

Putin's announcement follows on the heels of new internet regulations which went into effect on Monday, allowing Russia to isolate its web from the rest of the world.

Vladimir Putin says Wikipedia ought to be banned and replaced by a Russian version to deliver 'reliable information (pictured: at a meeting in the Kremlin on Wednesday)

Critics say the new law enables a Russian intranet, similar to that used by the Chinese, which could block content without providing any reason.

The government claim it is for national security reasons in case of 'an emergency.'

The law mandates that internet service providers install equipment called deep packet inspection (DPI), according to the BBC, which can block and filter traffic from certain sources.

WHAT IS ROSKOMNADZOR? Roskomnadzor is the Russian federal body most known for its responsibility for censorship in the media. It also acts to oversee the confidential handling of personal data in Russia and the organisation of the radio-frequency service. It has in the past notable blocked websites including Wikipedia, Pornhub and parts of Amazon. Advertisement

It will mean the country's telecoms body Roskomnadzor can more easily block websites.

Meanwhile the Kremlin is rumoured to be testing an intranet already.

According to D-Russia, the tests of the network isolation will begin after November 1, 2019 and will be repeatedly at least annually.



'On Monday, the government approved the provision on conducting exercises to ensure the stable, safe and holistic functioning of the Internet and public communications networks in the Russian Federation,' D-Russia reported.

'The exercises are [to be] held at the federal and regional levels.'

The Russian Government is believed to consider its present reliance on Western IT as a strategic vulnerability that could be exploited by other nations.

The move to isolate Russia's internet infrastructure — oft dubbed 'RuNet' — has been accompanied by legislation to limit its citizens' access to certain sites.

A 2006 Russian law, for example, restricted access to services like LinkedIn, encrypted texting app Telegram and 'radio' app Zello by mandating companies to open up their software to the nation's security forces and law enforcement agencies.

However, critics have claimed that the tests are part of a wider attempt to isolate its citizens from the surrounding world and its influences. Pictured, protesters campaign for internet freedom in Russia after the new law was tabled in March

Furthermore, the passage of the federation's sovereign internet law in April called upon Russian communications agency Roskomnadzor to create an internet monitoring and management centre.

In June, the Russian government threatened to block nine major VPN providers who had decline to enforce state censorship polices.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) services let users make secure internet connections across public networks and can be used to access blocked websites.

'When Russia passed its domestic internet bill into law, it wasn't clear how much the government would actually work to make it happen,' Sherman added.

Russian servicemen dressed in historical uniforms rehearse for a forthcoming parade on Red Square in Moscow on November 5

'Now it's clear they do intend to modify systems so the internet within Russian borders can be cut off from the global net at will.'

'These disconnection tests which Russia has planned for the near future — as well as, according to documents, annually going forward — are steps in the direction of making this so-called 'RuNet' work.'

'They also line up with a series of international pushes by authoritarian governments to make 'cyber sovereignty' of this kind more palatable to the global community.'