Ukrainian Wikipedia has reported it will protest against the law on amendments to the law "On judicial system and status of judges" and procedural laws regarding additional measures for the protection of the citizens' security, which was adopted by Verkhovna Rada and signed by the president.
“The society announces the installation of the banner about the protest and announces a daily 30-minute strike from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Kyiv time of the Ukrainian section of Wikipedia starting from Jan. 21, 2014, when readers from all over the world won’t have an access to Wikipedia-Ukraine pages,” reads the report posted on the Website of the Ukraine’s Wikipedia.
According to the Ukrainian community of Wikipedia “statements of this law are extremely dangerous, as they permit the blocking of Web resources that spread extremist information and to charge with libel any material containing an anti-government stance.”
As reported, on Jan. 16, Verkhovna Rada adopted the law authored by Regions Party MPs Volodymyr Oliynyk and Vadym Kolesnichenko. In particular, procedure and functioning of the NGOs – foreign agents, criminal liability for libel and extremist activity has been introduced, as well as for the interruption in the work of information resources and state authorities; criminal liability for mass disorder, the blocking and seizure of premises has been toughened, along with other measures.
The law will come into force on Jan. 22.
