The electronic petition, in which the author calls on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to ban Russian-language versions of websites, has passed the threshold of 25 thousand votes and must now be considered by the government.
The author of the initiative, Oleksandr Leonenko, raises the issue of the advisability of the existence of Russian-language pages on Ukrainian Internet resources in his text. He emphasizes:
“For whom is the Russian-language version of websites in Ukraine provided? If for Russians, then why are we creating websites for our enemy…? If for citizens of other countries, then English is the international language… If for Ukrainians, then all Ukrainians know the Ukrainian language. This is their duty in accordance with Part 1 of Article 6 of the Law “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language””.
In the text of the appeal, Leonenko calls the Russian-language versions of Ukrainian websites a “colonial rudiment”, as well as “an instrument of the cultural and informational expansion of the aggressor country” and “a threat to the informational security of Ukraine”.
Summing up his position, the author demands that the government initiate legislative changes:
“In view of this, I demand that the Cabinet of Ministers develop and submit to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration a draft law that will provide for a complete ban on the creation and operation of Russian-language versions of websites in Ukraine… I also demand that the updated legislation clearly stipulate the responsibility of website owners and administrators for violating this requirement.”
