LEGAL SPACE OF THE RUNET IN RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN EDITIONS

Media coverage analysis of the four most important federal laws is carried out. These legislative initiatives - "The law on the protection of children", "Lugovoi's law", "Russian SOPA" and the "Blogger law" regulate legal relations in the Russian segment of the Internet. The research shows that Russian and foreign media reaction to these laws is sharply negative and quite similar. The author assumes that there are various reasons for this assessment. The Russian media see these laws as the violation of fundamental freedoms of speech and expression and regard them as the tool of censorship and suppression of opposition. The situation is quite natural, because the legal field of Internet regulation in Russia is now at the initial stage and legislators sometimes react too rigidly to the rapidly changing reality and growing influence of the virtual space, while foreign media direct their criticism primaryly to the Russian political regime, using it as the tool of information warfare and pressure on the world public opinion.