Vladimir Putin meets with a roundtable at the first Internet Economy forum. December 22, 2015. Photo: Kremlin Press Service. Edited by Kevin Rothrock. Alexander Zharov isn’t often credited with being one of Russia’s most powerful state officials, and yet he is the head of Roskomnadzor, the government agency tasked with regulating and censoring the media (including the Internet). In the past, Zharov’s own deputy, Maxim Ksenzov, has outshined him publicly, making headlines for various controversial claims and threats, such as a remark in May 2014, when Ksenzov said regulators could block Twitter or Facebook “in a matter of minutes.” On December 25, however, Ksenzov informally announced that he will be resigning from his post in early January. Four days later, Zharov stepped into the spotlight, granting a long interview to the news website Gazeta.ru, giving Russians a taste of what they can expect from their Internet censor in 2016. The interview is extensive. Zharov touches on Roskomnadzor’s friction with Wikipedia (which has resisted the Russian government’s efforts to censor articles about illegal drugs), Internet anonymizers, reporting the words “ISIL” and “Daesh,” and the appointment of German Klimenko, Vladimir Putin’s new Internet advisor. Below, RuNet Echo summarizes the three issues Zharov discussed with Gazeta.ru in the greatest depth: weighing the normalcy of Russia’s media censorship, measuring the success of Russian censorship, and regulating Russia’s mobile-messenger market. Asked why Russia finds it necessary to regulate its media so harshly, Zharov first deflected, saying that questions about the purpose of regulations should be addressed to Russian lawmakers, given that Roskomnadzor is only the enforcer. Zharov is clearly no opponent of these regulations, however, and he went on to justify the state’s restrictions on the media, saying, “Our laws are fairly liberal, when compared to other countries and the powers they grant to their watchdog agencies, regarding the removal of materials from the media, for example, during broadcasts.” When Gazeta.ru asked him for an example of “laws harsher” than Russia’s in “at least one civilized country,” Zharov turned to the United States: Когда на одном из кабельных каналов Нью-Йорка начали демонстрировать фильм «08-08-08» про атаку Грузии на Южную Осетию и Абхазию, примерно через 30 минут после начала фильма в студию приехал агент ФБР, предъявил «корочку», изъял носитель информации и уехал. А у зрителей в этот момент появился «черный экран». Мы знаем, полномочия агентов ФБР, как и полицейских, в США безграничны. Можете представить, чтобы инспектор Роскомнадзора зашел в СМИ и остановил трансляцию? Я не могу. When one of the cable channels in New York started showing the film “08-08-08” about Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, about 30 minutes into the broadcast an FBI agent arrived at the studio, flashed his badge, confiscated the data storage device, and left. People watching at the time were suddenly left with a black screen. We know that the police powers of the FBI in the United States are limitless. Can you imagine if an inspector from Roskomnadzor were to enter a TV station and stopped the broadcast? I cannot. It’s unclear what episode Zharov has in mind, though his description of an American telecast containing pro-Russian content vaguely recalls a Fox News broadcast on August 13, 2008, when a witness to the war in South Ossetia was cut off for commercials. (Russian TV networks highlighted the incident as an example of censorship, though Fox News did allow the woman back on the air to continue her criticism of then Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, after the commercial break.) The Russian film “WAR 08.08.08. The Art of Betrayal” is available on YouTube, where it has more than 1.3 million views. Russian law bans the dissemination of information that assists or propagates the use of illegal drugs. Spreading similar information about suicide is also prohibited. When asked about Internet regulations’ impact on drug use, Zharov refused to discuss the efficacy of Roskomnadzor’s censorship efforts. “I’m not acquainted with the statistics on drug use. For that, you need to ask the Federal Drug Control Service,” he told Gazeta.ru. He explained that his job is merely to put up barriers to keep young people away from drugs, though he admitted that dedicated individuals will always find ways to circumvent restrictions. About other, less damning statistics, however, Zharov was ready to talk.