Putin signs bill allowing authorities to fine messenger services for non-compliance with Russian laws
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law which envisages fines for messengers that do not comply with Russian legislation.
The relevant document was published on Russia’s official legal information portal.
If messengers fail to meet the obligations established by the legislation on information, information technologies and information protection, Russian citizens will be faced with fines from 3 to 5 thousand rubles, officials with fines from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, and legal entities with fines from 800,000 to one 1 million rubles.
Persons conducting business without creating a legal entity will be made liable as if they were legal entities, the document notes.
At the end of July, Putin signed a law regulating the activity of messengers. According to the document, messengers must identify users by phone number, according to the agreement that the application owners must sign with operators. As required by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, if they receive the relevant notice, they must restrict a user’s access or block channels with illegal information.
In the middle of October, the Moscow Magistrate’s Court fined Telegram 800,000 rubles for refusing to collaborate with the FSB. The court recognized the messenger as guilty of committing administrative offenses. The company appealed the ruling. On December 12, the Meshchansky District Court recognized the legitimacy of the ruling.