MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he had no plans to crack down on the Internet ahead of 2012 elections, seeking to play down concerns over recent hacker attacks on a blogging website.

"My personal opinion is that I don't think it is possible to limit anything," said Putin, answering a question from a lawmaker after his annual address to parliament.

Putin said security services were concerned that the Internet could be used against the interests of the country, but added that "it is their concern".

"We don't plan on slapping down anything," he said.

Russian bloggers freely criticise authorities, often scathingly, question high-level corruption and swap information.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in February, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Google was responsible for uprisings that helped unseat Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.