1 December 2016, 09:24 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Western countries are engaging in the same form of censorship they have been criticizing Russia for, Russian President Vladimri Putin said in a Federal Assembly address Thursday.
"We are always criticized that we allegedly introduce censorship in the country, now they are practicing in this area themselves," Putin said.
He stressed that Moscow opposes any monopoly, "whether in claims of exclusivity, or attempting to build the rules of international trade for themselves, restrict freedom of speech, de-facto censor the global information space."
The European Parliament voted on November 23 in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster
As many as 304 parliamentarians voted in favor the document, 179 voted against and 208 abstained. As many as 691 officials took part in the vote, meaning less than half supported the resolution.
