The Russian Orthodox Church has proposed banning internet access for Russians under the age of 18. It also urged Russia to follow the example of communist China.

This was reported by the Christians Against War project.

According to the report, Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarchal Commission on Family, Motherhood and Childhood, blamed society for the fact that Russian teenagers take part in acts of sabotage that Russian security agencies subsequently classify as terrorist attacks.

“It is a systemic failure of our society that we allow such things to happen at all,” Lukyanov said.

In his view, children would benefit from having no internet access whatsoever until around the age of 18. The Orthodox Church official urged Russia to follow the example of communist China.

“We need a law regulating online algorithms, following the example of our neighbor China, which places reasonable limits on the influence of various destructive ideologies that, unfortunately, are present on the internet. In fact, unfortunately, young people today are developing a destructive rather than creative mindset because they are exposed to digital technologies at a very early age,” he said.