A controversial law that the government says is aimed at protecting children from harmful web content has just gone into effect in Russia. But critics of the legislation, dubbed Russia’s ‘internet blacklist law’, have slammed the move, saying it will give authorities a license to censor any website it disagrees with.

Under the new law, Russian authorities will now be able to blacklist and block websites without any kind of legal checks or investigation, reports the BBC.

According to The Guardian, the law was previously back by both houses of parliament in Russia, before being signed into statute books by President Vladimir Putin.

Authorities argue that the law is necessary to ensure that children are not able to access websites containing content like images of sexual abuse, images of people taking drugs, suicide instructions, and sites where children could be exposed to pedophiles.

However, human rights groups and opposition activists have criticized the new law, which they say will only further internet censorship in Russia. The new law extends powers given to authorities in its predecessor, the Act for Information.

Yuri Vdovin, Vice president of the activist group Citizen Watch, told the BBC that the law was nothing but an attempt by Putin to further censor Russia’s opposition, which has become increasingly vocal since disputed presidential elections took place earlier this year.

Vdovin said that authorities wouldn’t limit their powers to just shutting down sites that could harm children, but would also clamp down on those that promote democracy:

“Of course there are websites that should not be accessible to children, but I don’t think it will be limited to that. The government will start closing other sites – any democracy-oriented sites are at risk of being taken offline.”

“It will be [an attack on] the freedom of speech on the internet… But there are lots of harmful websites out there already, for example, fascist sites – and they could have easily been closed down by now – but no, [the government] doesn’t care, there are no attempts to do so.”