Runet Regulation Act

2021

Roskomnadzor approved the labeling of Internet content of foreign companies that violate the law

In September 2021, the Federal Service for Supervision in the Field of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) approved the labeling of Internet content of foreign companies that violate the law. The corresponding order of the department is published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

Information... should contain a message: "A foreign person who owns an information resource is a violator of the legislation of the Russian Federation" using the size of letters in the message not less than the size of letters contained in the link to the information resource of a foreign person, the document says.

Roskomnadzor approved the labeling of Internet content of foreign companies that violate the law

According to Kommersant, from July 1, 2021, foreign companies that violate Russian laws should inform users of their information resources about this. This requirement was included in the law "On the activities of foreign persons in the Internet information and telecommunications network in the Russian Federation." At the same time, the document does not specify exactly how foreign "violators" will be determined.

Earlier, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications Maksut Shadaev did not rule out that as a measure of influence on foreign Internet resources that systematically violate Russian law, a restriction on advertising may be introduced. We are not talking about banning Russian advertising on foreign Internet resources, but about restrictions for some violations of Russian law.

This measure, unlike the measure related to blocking or restricting access, it does not affect the user, it affects the economy of this company, and, accordingly, its economic motivation to comply with our laws, "said Shadaev.

By September 2021, Russia already has the possibility of restricting traffic and subsequently blocking foreign Internet resources that violate Russian law.^[1][2]

The State Duma wants to oblige large Internet companies to open representative offices in Russia

Large foreign Internet companies may be obliged to open official representative offices in Russia. On May 13, 2021, the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, Alexander Hinshtein, announced this in his Telegram channel.

Our bill will oblige the owners of large information resources with a daily audience in the Russian Federation of 500 thousand people to open official representative offices (branches), which should fully represent the interests and be responsible for their activities, including in state and judicial instances, "he wrote.

The State Duma plans to oblige large Internet companies to open representative offices in the Russian Federation

For violation of this requirement, it is proposed to introduce the following penalties:

• informing users of the Internet resource about the company's violation of Russian laws;
• prohibition of advertising both about the resource and on it itself;
• prohibition of making payments to the Internet resource;
• Prohibition of the collection and cross-border transfer of personal data.

Hinstein noted that large technology companies abuse their monopoly position, violating the requirements of Russian law, "this primarily concerns the dissemination of the most socially dangerous information: child pornography, suicide, drugs, propaganda of terrorism and extremism." At the same time, it is almost impossible to make claims to them. Companies do not have their representative offices in Russia and at best create "daughters" who are not responsible for the actions and policies of the parent holdings, Hinstein explained.

He added that the proposed measures do not infringe on the interests of Russian users, but "create economic incentives for IT giants to comply with our legislation." On May 13, 2021, he specified that the bill is planned to be submitted to the State Duma deputies in the near future.^[3]

2020: Putin: Russia will create its own Internet regulation scheme

Russia will not use foreign schemes for regulating the Internet and protecting personal data, but will create its own, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 29, 2020 at the Russia Calls forum.

We do not plan to follow some already established schemes. If you said we want a Chinese scheme related to data protection, or a European one, we will have a Russian one, "he said.

According to Putin, the actions of the authorities in the field of personal data protection will be very careful.

I will not talk about final decisions right now, we are thinking about it. But we, of course, do not intend to introduce prohibitive measures that would nullify the idea itself, "he added.

Putin said that Russia will develop its own Internet regulation scheme

Commenting on the words of the Russian leader, the head of VTBandrey Kostin noted that a large amount of personal information passes through private companies. In particular, he spoke about the case that happened to him at the sports club, when personal data had to be entered to start the treadmill.

They say to me: "Last name, first name, date of birth and your email." I was surprised by the desire of the treadmill to get to know me so close and moved to a bicycle, which was apparently an old model and did not require it, "he added, asking the president if the state could regulate the amount of information required by private entities.

Putin replied that the authorities will try to find "an adequate, balanced solution, bearing in mind technological capabilities."

We need to think about this, we need to work with our advanced companies, "he added.

Putin once again emphasized that it is too early to talk about final decisions in this area on personal data protection, but Russia will not follow the path of prohibitive measures.^[4]

2019: The Government of the Russian Federation supported the bill on the sustainability of Runet

On February 4, 2019, it became known that the Russian Government supported the bill on the "sovereign Internet," but proposed to significantly finalize a number of its provisions by the second reading. Such information is contained in the recall to the document prepared by the Cabinet of Ministers, reports TASS.

The government's claims are due to the fact that the bill does not spell out where the operators will take the funds for the purchase of equipment necessary to pass traffic. Also, the Cabinet of Ministers did not find in it a clear description of the threats to the integrity, security and stability of the Internet, the elimination of which is aimed at the initiative, and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that control over the implementation of the project is entrusted to Roskomnadzor, and not to the Ministry of Communications or the Russian government.^[5]

Finally, the government proposed to supplement the bill with a provision that the installation of equipment on the networks of telecom operators as part of the bill on the stability of the Runet should not worsen the quality of communications in Russia.

The bill proposes to equip communication networks with technical means of countering threats, but the issues of operation and modernization of these means are not regulated, including in terms of financial support for these processes, as well as liability for damage caused by failures in the operation of communication networks caused by the functioning of these means, including to third parties, the document says. - When finalizing the bill, it is necessary to supplement the provision that the requirements for technical means of counteracting threats are established on the basis of the need to not reduce the technological capabilities of the telecom operator in terms of information transfer speed during the provision of communication services, except in cases of restriction of access to information distributed through the information and telecommunications network "Internet," access to which should be limited in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, "the recall says.[6]

2018: The Ministry of Communications has finalized the bill on regulating the infrastructure of Runet

The Ministry of Communications has amended the bill on the regulation of the Russian segment of the Internet after discussion with operators and the expert community. First of all, the concept of a traffic exchange point was replaced by a "exchange point," Kommersant writes in January 2018.

Secondly, the new version of the document does not imply the mandatory passage of traffic of mobile operators only through exchange points from the state register. In addition, the restriction of foreign participation in such points to 20% will not affect telecom operators, but only large traffic exchange nodes - such as the Rostelecom-controlled MSK IX, which, however, does not have foreign owners.

According to the Ministry of Communications, after clarifying the bill, the Big Four and a number of the largest operators who took part in the discussion did not have any comments on it. However, the new rules may affect the activities of some market participants. We are talking, for example, about sites that use foreign data centers, and as the business develops, they can still fall under the requirement to limit foreign capital.

2017

The Mayor of the Russian Federation proposed the Ministry of Communications to take backups of Runet

The Ministry of Economic Development of Russia criticized the bill of the Ministry of Communications, which proposes to oblige operators to connect to traffic exchange points from the state register.

Such a measure, according to the deputy head of the Ministry of Economy Nikolai Podguzov, will force providers to increase costs and at the same time make it difficult to choose optimal data transmission routes over the network. All together, this, in turn, will lead to an increase in tariffs for users.

Podguzov indicated such comments in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Communications, they write Sheets""^[7]. Following this, a meeting was held in the Ministry of Economic Development, where this topic was once again raised.

Specialists of the department proposed not to change the system of missing data transmission of operators, but to save information about routes to restore information if necessary. In other words, back up.

The Ministry of Communications proposes to tighten the draft amendments to the law "On Communications"

Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Russia proposes to oblige telecom operators to connect to traffic exchange points from the state register by using GIS - the State Information System for Ensuring the Integrity, Stability and Security of the Functioning of the Russian National Segment of the Internet, the Kommersant^[8]

In the previous version of the amendments to the law "On Communications," the ministry proposed only to allow operators to connect to such points, and not to oblige them to do so. This means that GIS will have access to data on the critical infrastructure of the Russian Internet segment and traffic routes. It is proposed to finance the project from the USC fund. However, at the same time, this will lead to significant spending by providers and may violate the integrity of Runet's interaction with the global network, operators say.

2016: Draft amendments to the law

In November 2016, the Ministry of Communications presented a draft law involving amendments to the Federal Law "On Communications." Department suggests to add to the list of the purposes of the Federal Law "About Communication" one more - "ensuring integrity, continuity, stability, stability and security of functioning of the Russian national segment of the Internet" and a number of the related new concepts and norms.

Among the proposed new concepts is the definition of an autonomous system. It is described in the document as a set of communication means and other technical means under a single technical and administrative control, having a single routing policy on the Internet and identified in it by a single number. The bill also proposes to fix in the Federal Law "On Communications" the concepts of an IP address, the Russian national segment of the Internet, its infrastructure, traffic exchange points and its owner, the registry of names of the national domain zones ".ru," ".rf," their administrator, as well as data transmission lines.

The document defines the critical infrastructure of the Internet and the features of regulating its key elements. The Ministry of Communications proposes to empower the Government of the Russian Federation to determine the procedure for managing and functioning individual elements of critical infrastructure.

The draft law involves the creation of a state information system to ensure the integrity, sustainability and security of the functioning of the Russian segment of the Internet

The bill introduces a definition of the concept of "transmission line" and clarifies the procedure established by the Federal Law "On Communications" for the construction, operation, including maintenance, and accounting for communication lines and transmission lines crossing the state border.

The draft law also defines the duties of telecom operators in terms of technical requirements for the organization of data transmission lines. The bill addresses the issue of organizing traffic exchange points and passing traffic in Russia and determines the procedure for its organization.

It is also proposed to create a state information system (GIS) to ensure the integrity, stability and security of the functioning of the Russian segment of the Internet. It is assumed that it will ensure the collection, processing, storage, provision, placement and use of information on critical elements of the Russian part of the Internet, its integration with international communication networks, as well as routing and address information in data transmission networks. The operator of the system must be determined by the government of the Russian Federation.

The bill establishes the possibility of using this system by telecom operators. Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs located in the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and using an autonomous system number or IP address will be required to submit information for placement in the system, specified in the document. This will have to be done by the owners of traffic exchange points.

The Ministry of Communications proposes to finance the work of the state information system from the reserve of universal service.