Law on Landing in Russia (Digital Residency)

2024

Moscow court imposed negotiable fines on 11 hosting companies for a total of 367.5 million rubles

In January 2024, a Moscow court imposed negotiable fines on 11 hosting companies totaling 367.5 million rubles for refusing to open representative offices in Russia. The following shall be punished:

• Amazon Web Services;
• HostGator.com;
• Bluehost;
• Kamatera;
• Ionos;
• Network Solutions;
• DigitalOcean;
• DreamHost;
• GoDaddy.com;
• WPEngine;
• Hetzner Online.

In particular, Hetzner Online GmbH was fined 117 million rubles, DigitalOcean - 30 million rubles, Amazon Web Services (a subsidiary of Amazon) - 200 million rubles, Bluehost, Kamatera, Ionos, DreamHost, GoDaddy.com, WPEngine, HostGator.com, Network Solutions - 6 million rubles each. All of these companies provide cloud and web infrastructure services.

The Moscow court imposed negotiable fines on 11 hosting companies for a total of 367.5 million rubles

These companies were fined for an administrative offense under Part 2 of Art. 13.49 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (carrying out activities on the Internet by a foreign legal entity on the territory of the Russian Federation without placing an electronic form for sending appeals from Russian citizens and organizations, or without creating a branch, opening a representative office, establishing a Russian legal entity).

As noted by TASS, Roskomnadzor previously ordered these companies to mark as violators of Russian laws. The reason is a violation of the law on the activities of foreign persons on the Internet on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to it, they must register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website, post a feedback form for Russian citizens and organizations and open a representative office in Russia. In accordance with the law, if a foreign company operates in Russia without opening a branch or representative office, it faces a fine in the amount of 1/15 to 1/10 of the total amount of revenue for a calendar year.^[1]

The court appointed Amazon a negotiable fine of 200 million rubles for the lack of a branch in Russia

On January 17, 2024, the Magistrate of the Tagansky District of Moscow ruled against Amazon to impose a fine for the company's work in Russia without opening a representative office. Read more here.

2023

Roskomnadzor included Aviasales in the list of companies subject to "landing"

Roskomnadzor included Aviasales in the list of companies subject to "landing." This was reported in the press service of the department on October 26, 2023. Read more here.

Roskomnadzor included Amazon in the list of foreign companies subject to "landing." She needs to open an office in the Russian Federation

Roskomnadzor expanded the list of foreign companies subject to "landing," adding Amazon Web Services, Inc. Read more here.

2022

Putin signed a law on working fines for IT companies for refusing to "land"

In mid-July 2022, the president Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing working fines against IT companies that refuse to comply with the requirements of the law on the so-called "landing."

This law obliges foreign IT companies with a daily audience in Russia from 500 thousand people to create full-fledged representative offices in the Russian Federation, register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website and place an electronic form on their resource for feedback with Russian citizens or organizations.

Vladimir Putin

If the IT company does not do this, then a fine awaits it: for the first violation - in the amount of 1/15 to 1/10 of the annual revenue, for the repeated - from 1/10 to 1/5 of the revenue. At the same time, in the first case, the minimum amount of the fine will be 6 million rubles, and in the second - 10 million rubles. The amount will be calculated based on the revenue of a foreign company in Russia.

The owner of the online resource, in turn, will be fined up to 500 thousand rubles, if it is a private person. Officials are waiting for a fine of up to 1 million rubles.

In addition, the responsibility of search engines operators, hosting providers, advertisers and advertising distributors for failure to fulfill the obligations provided for by the landing law is introduced. Thus, for failure to fulfill the obligation to terminate the issuance of information about the information resource of companies that do not comply with the law at the request of users, they will be fined up to 5 million rubles.

The law strengthens responsibility for repeated non-fulfillment by a telecom operator of the obligation to restrict or resume access to prohibited information during the year. For this, a fine is introduced for officials in the amount of 30 thousand to 250 thousand rubles; for legal entities from 500 thousand to 4 million rubles.^[2]

Authorities have imposed penalties on naughty internet giants and those who partner with them

The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading a law on the introduction of fines for non-compliance with the requirements of another law, which received the unofficial name "On the landing of Internet resources." The document is an amendment to the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO), it was developed by deputies Alexander Khinshtein (chairman of the committee on information policy) and Sergei Boyarsky. This became known on July 7, 2022.

The Law "On the Landing of Internet Resources" was adopted in 2021. It obliges foreign Internet companies with daily traffic Russia of more than 500 thousand people to open their representative offices in Russia, create a form for feedback on their websites and start personal accounts on the site. Roskomnadzor

For failure to comply with the requirements of this law, Roskomnadzor may apply various penalties: blocking access or limiting access speed; a ban on the collection of personal data of Russians; prohibition on making payments to this resource; a ban on the distribution of advertising for this resource and the placement of advertising for Russian organizations on it; the requirement for search engines to label this resource in their issuance as violating Russian law.

Now the Code of Administrative Offenses has fines for failure to comply with these requirements. For foreign persons who fall under the law "On the landing of Internet resources" and do not fulfill the requirements imposed on them, a negotiable fine is provided. It is from 1/15 to 1/10 of the total amount of revenue received from the sale of all goods for the calendar year preceding the year in which the administrative offense was revealed, or for the previous date of the revealed administrative offense, the part of the calendar year in which the administrative offense was revealed if the offender did not carry out activities on the sale of goods previous calendar year.

The minimum amount of this fine is 6 million rubles. For repeated violation, the amount of the fine will be from 1/10 to 1/5 of the total amount of revenue for the previous calendar year. The minimum amount of this fine increases to 10 million rubles.

Violation by foreign Internet companies subject to the law "On the landing of Internet resources" of the requirements for the installation of site visits counters approved by Roskomnadzor entails a fine of 500 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles. The distribution of advertising by a foreign Internet company in Russia or the placement of advertising aimed at Russians on its platforms in cases where this is prohibited by Roskomnadzor entails a fine of 3 million rubles. up to 6 million rubles.

Violation of the ban on the collection of personal data of Russians entails the imposition of a fine in the amount of 1.5 million rubles. up to 6 million rubles. For repeated violation, the amount of the fine will be from 6 million rubles. up to 18 million rubles. Failure to provide foreign Internet companies with the information necessary for Roskomnadzor of the corresponding list of Internet resources is punishable by a fine of 300 thousand rubles. up to 700 thousand rubles.

Fines are also provided for other persons who do not comply with the requirements of Roskomnadzor to restrict the activities of foreign Internet companies that violate Russian law. So, for search engines, the amount of the fine will be from 1.5 million rubles. up to 5 million rubles. The placement of advertising on a foreign Internet resource or the distribution of advertising on a foreign Internet resource in cases where this is prohibited by Roskomdzor leads to the imposition of fines in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. up to 3 million rubles.

For hosting providers who have not provided Roskomnadzor with information that allows identifying owners of foreign Internet resources, or providing inaccurate information, is punishable by a fine of 50 thousand rubles. up to 300 thousand rubles.

Fines are also introduced for Internet providers for violating the requirements for passing traffic through technical means to counter threats to the stability, security and integrity of the Internet and public communications networks in Russia. The amount of fines will be from 500 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles. For repeated violation, the amount of the fine will be from 3 million rubles. up to 5 million rubles.

We are talking about the law "On the Sovereign Internet" adopted in 2019. It obliges Internet providers to install equipment to counter threats through which Roskomnadzor can centrally manage communication networks^[3].

Russia adopted a law on working fines for IT companies for failure to comply with the law on "landing"

On July 6, 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the third (final) reading adopted a law on working fines for IT companies for failure to comply with the law on "landing." In particular, for non-compliance with the norms, they face a fine of up to one tenth of the total revenue for work in Russia.

It is proposed to count the amounts from the revenue for the previous calendar year, or for the previous date of the offense, the part of the calendar year in which the offense occurred if the company did not sell goods (works, services) last year.

Russia adopted a law on working fines for IT companies for failure to comply with the law on "landing"

If the owner of a foreign information resource is a private person, then it is proposed for him to introduce fines from 200 to 400 thousand rubles, for a repeated offense - from 300 to 500 thousand rubles. For officials, the amount of fines can range from 400 to 800 thousand rubles, for repeated violation - from 500 thousand to 1 million rubles.

Administrative fines are also introduced for non-fulfillment by a telecom operator of the obligation to restrict or resume information on the Internet, access to which should be limited or resumed on the basis of information received from Roskomnadzor. The amount of fines for officials will be from 30 thousand to 250 thousand rubles, for legal entities - from 500 thousand to 4 million rubles.

The bill also provides for the introduction of liability for search engines operators, hosting providers, advertisers and advertising distributors for non-fulfillment of obligations provided for by the law on "landing." Thus, for failure by the operator of the search engine to terminate the search results of information about an IT company that does not comply with the law, a fine of up to 5 million rubles is provided.^[4]

Authorities will tighten the law "on landing"

The lower house committee on state construction recommended the adoption in the second reading of amendments to the law "on landing." According to the proposed changes, the responsibility of foreign IT companies for non-compliance with the law will be tightened. This became known on June 21, 2022.

Deputy Dmitry Vyatkin United Russia("") proposed to supplement the law with sanctions for distribution on the territory by Russia advertizing a foreign legal entity, if Roskomnadzor he decided to ban such activities. We are talking penalties about for companies in the amount of 500 thousand to 3 million rubles.

Also, Vyatkin's amendments clarify responsibility for violation by a telecom operator providing services for providing access to the Internet, the procedure for installing and operating technical means to ensure countering threats to the stability and security of the network. Fines for such a violation will seriously increase and will amount to 30 to 50 thousand rubles for officials, up to 100 thousand rubles for individual entrepreneurs, and up to 1 million rubles for legal entities. In addition, a reservation appears: fines will be threatened if these actions "do not contain signs of a criminal offense"^[5].

Inclusion of Wikimedia in the list of foreign persons for "landing"

On May 19, 2022, it became known that Roskomnadzor had included the Wikimedia Foundation in the list of foreign persons for "landing." Now, according to the law, the owner of Wikipedia must register his personal account on the regulator's website, post a complaint form on the website and open his representative office or branch on the territory of the Russian Federation. Read more here.

Wikimedia may fall under the law "on landing" in the Russian Federation

The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns the Russian Wikipedia, may fall under the law on landing, it became known on April 25, 2022, according to Roskomnadzor. The agency has already sent a request to the site administration about the daily attendance by Russian users of the Wikipedia information resource.

The law on the "landing" of foreign IT giants entered into force on January 1. According to the law, companies with a daily audience exceeding 500 thousand Russian users are required to open their representative office in Russia.

Thus, if there is an attendance of more than 500 thousand Russian users per day, the Wikimedia Foundation falls under the law on landing, the Roskomnadzor said in a statement.

By, in to data SimilarWeb March, the Russian-language site "Wikipedia" was visited 175.3 million times.

The Russian Wikipedia, for its part, warned that due to the law on "landing," it could receive the status of a foreign agent^[6]

Meta and Zoom have begun to implement the law on "landing" in Russia

Roskomnadzor announced a change in the status of compliance by foreign IT companies with the requirements of Russian legislation. This became known on February 22, 2022.

Foreign companies Meta Platforms, Inc. and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. have begun to fulfill the requirements established by Federal Law No. 236-FZ.

Meta Platforms, Inc. sent an application for registration of a personal account on the official website of Roskomnadzor.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. has registered a personal account on the official website of Roskomnadzor. In addition, the company said that work is underway to create a feedback form and the issue of opening a representative office in the Russian Federation is being considered.

According to federal law No. 236-FZ "On the activities of foreign persons on the Internet on the territory of the Russian Federation," foreign IT companies are obliged to ensure their official presence on the territory of the Russian Federation, establishing a branch office, opening a representative office or establishing a Russian legal entity, as well as posting on its website an electronic form of feedback with Russian users, register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website for interaction with authorities and set the recommended attendance counter on the information resource.

Only Apple and Spotify have fully "landed" in Russia. Google and Facebook may be subject to bans and negotiable fines

Google among those who, as of mid-February, have not yet begun to comply with the requirements of the Russian law on "landing"

Dive pilot: Leaders and outsiders in "landing"

The law on the "landing" of foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of more than 500 thousand people entered into force on January 1, 2022, but of the 13 IT giants from which the state expects to comply with the requirements, only two have fully fulfilled them - Apple and Spotify. This was announced by the deputy head of Roskomnadzor Vadim Subbotin at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, IT and Communications on February 16.

Apple and Spotify have fulfilled all key "landing" responsibilities, including creating a local legal entity in Russia with the required powers assigned to it, placing a feedback form on their resources for citizens to contact and registering a personal account in the Roskomnadzor system for interaction with the department.

Viber was also confident that they had fully complied with the requirements of the new law, including on December 22, the company registered a legal entity in Russia (Erviai Ru LLC), Ilya Zhabrovsky, a company representative, said at a committee meeting. But Roskomnadzor at the meeting clarified that Viber has not yet endowed this legal entity with all the necessary powers, so the regulator classifies them as partially fulfilling the requirements of the law.

Partially began to fulfill the requirements of TikTok, Likee, Twitter and Zoom. TikTok registered a personal account, posted a feedback form and informed Roskomnadzor that it plans to open a representative office in Russia in the near future. Likee also registered a personal account, posted a feedback form and notified of imminent plans to establish a Russian legal entity. Twitter also has a personal account, and Zoom sent an application for registration of a personal account on February 15.

Google, Meta (Facebook and other companies of the group), Discord, Pinterest, Twitch and Telegram did not begin to fulfill the requirements of the law at all . Representatives of these companies, with the exception of Pinterest, did not appear at the meeting of the information policy committee on February 16. At the same time, there is no connection with Discord and Twitch at all, said Vadim Subbotin.

And two companies - iHerb and AliExpress - on their own initiative completely "landed" in Russia. Their representatives also took part in the committee meeting.

The state begins to use the "whip": advertising ban and negotiable fines under the Administrative Code

In the near future, Roskomnadzor will launch a procedure for taking coercive measures, which are provided for by law. We are talking primarily about economic measures: this is a ban on advertising against companies that have not begun to implement the law on "landing." Let me remind you that the law provides for 8 measures of coercion, by decision of Roskomnadzor one or more of them can be applied, - said Subbotin.

Among economic measures, it is also provided, for example, to limit payments in favor of a foreign company that has not fulfilled the requirements, and of the technical ones, the toughest is the complete blocking of the Internet resource in Russia.

The deputy head of Roskomnadzor clarified that the department will begin to consider the application of coercive measures until the end of February, and this applies to those companies that have not yet begun to take measures to "land."

The deputy head of the FAS Karina Taukenova added that their department is also ready to apply coercive measures: amendments have already been made to the law on advertising, which allow the FAS, with the appropriate decision of Roskomnadzor, to consider such cases. The current norms allow them to be considered for up to a month and, if necessary, extend the consideration for another two months. Taukenova says that a government decree is being prepared specifically for these cases, which will reduce the monthly consideration period to a more prompt one.

Alexander Khinshtein spoke about new upcoming measures that could be applied to foreign IT giants if they do not comply with the requirements of the new law "(photo - TASS)"

But the state is not going to limit itself to a "whip" already ready for action. Members of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy prepared amendments to the Administrative Code, which propose to introduce negotiable fines for IT giants for failure to comply with the law on "landing." The document is aimed at recalling the government, its head Alexander Khinshtein said at a committee meeting on February 16.

Big Tech - about problems with "landing" in Russia

Sergei Sokolov, director of organ relations state power at Eastern To Europe TikTok, who was present at the meeting of the State Duma committee, said that the company would fulfill the requirement to open an office, but this process turned out to be difficult and long, so the Singapore headquarters of TikTok would be grateful to be given time to finish this procedure.

Ilya Zhabrovsky from Viber also pointed out some difficulties in fulfilling the requirements. For example, the company could not receive feedback from Roskomnadzor in December regarding the procedure for registering a representative office and opening a personal account. There are also difficulties with foreign representatives coming to Russia to submit documents to the tax office. There are also technical shortcomings related to the work of your personal account - there is no way to attach files.

Viber thought that they had fulfilled all the requirements of the new law, but Roskomnadzor determined that this was not the case yet

Pavel Dunaev, a representative of Pinterest, which has not yet fulfilled a single "landing" requirement, said at a committee meeting that the company continues to analyze the requirements of the legislation and will discuss them further with colleagues.

The Zoom spokesman also notes that the company is still considering the requirements, and that it needs time to conduct a qualitative analysis of all aspects of the legislation. In addition, Elsa Ganeeva, head of work with government agencies in Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, says that there is also a geopolitical factor. American companies sometimes find it difficult to meet the requirements of local jurisdictions due to the fact that the general background is not very favorable. This somewhat slows down Zoom's actions.

Alexander Khinshtein noted to this that, unlike some other segments, in Russia there are enough players in the video conferencing segment who can occupy the market while Zoom analyzes and thinks about how to fulfill the requirements of the legislation.

Geopolitics has nothing to do with it?

If we talk about the mood in the IT environment, then some domestic IT companies perceive the law on "landing" as a kind of restoration of justice, says Sergei Plugotarenko, director of the Electronic Communications Association (RAEC): the requirements of the law on "landing" finally equalize Russian and foreign companies in a number of rights and responsibilities, create equal conditions for doing business in Russia.

This key sounded everywhere, at all the meetings that we held, and we always tried to maintain just such a tone. But this is not related to geopolitics, - added Plugotarenko.

In his opinion, it is important to continue explanatory work that this law has no political, counter-sanction subtext, and make sure that the adoption of this law does not look like some kind of response.

This is the economy, this is competition, technology, but not geopolitics, - said the director of RAEK.

Now, for example, there are requirements that Russian companies fulfill, and foreign companies may not always fulfill. Here we are talking about the removal of illegal content, and about the localization of personal data storage on the territory of the Russian Federation. An important aspect is also related to ensuring the rights of platform users: it should be able to have a full-fledged dialogue with a local representative office, and not contact "incomprehensible addresses."

Close attention to the activities of the largest international digital companies and the search for models for regulating their activities are also characteristic of other countries, the director of RAEC added.

In almost all countries that we analyzed, we see that regulators are developing their own approaches. An example is the law on digital markets and the law on digital services of the European Union - it generally establishes a set of requirements for the largest digital platforms both for antimonopoly regulation and for the removal of illegal content, says Sergey Plugotarenko.

The co-author of the law on "landing," Senator Alexei Pushkov, also claims that these requirements are not related to the geopolitical situation. If companies cite geopolitics on compliance, it looks like an excuse.

There is no need to introduce geopolitical elements, reasoning about the nature of American companies. How is their nature different from Russian companies? I can say what. The fact is that in the priority system of the largest American Internet companies, local legislation, that is, ours with you, is in third place, "Pushkov said.

In the first place are the "community rules," which the senator considers a blurred concept, and which in Russia cannot act in a higher priority over Russian law. And Pushkov calls the second priority "public interest," which "is also a subjective thing."

We must insist that these companies comply with Russian legislation, the senator is convinced. As an example, he cited Australia, where Facebook did not want to comply with the decisions made by the local parliament and talked about leaving the country. But following the talks, the parties found a common language.

Opening of Spotify office in Russia

On February 4, 2022, it became known about the opening of a Spotify representative office. Earlier, the Swedish music service, which is considered the largest in the world, registered a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website. In addition, the company will have to place on its resources a form for the appeal of Russians in order to fully comply with the requirements of the "landing" law, which entered into force on January 1, 2022. Read more here.

Opening of Apple office in Russia

On February 4, 2022, it became known about the opening of Apple's representative office in Russia. Thus, the American company fully complied with the requirements of the law "On the activities of foreign persons in the information and telecommunication Internet in Russia, which entered into force a month earlier." Read more here.

Viber opened a representative office in Russia

On January 17, 2022, Viber announced the opening of a representative office in Russia. With this step, the messenger fulfilled the requirement of the law on the activities of Internet companies in the Russian Federation - in accordance with it, foreign online services with a daily audience of more than 500 thousand users must open their authorized offices in Russia. In addition, they are obliged to place a form for feedback from Russian users and organizations. 13 companies, including Viber, fell under the requirements of the law. Read more here.

2021

Foreign IT companies are in no hurry to "land"

According to Roskomnadzor, foreign Big Tech companies are in no hurry to "land." Until January 1, 2022, they are obliged, according to the law, to open a representative office in Russia, register a personal account and create a special form for communication with Russian users. As of the end of December, these requirements have not yet been fulfilled, as it became known on December 29, 2021.

The list IT of companies that should open offices in Russia and interact with users and Roskomnadzor through Internet was published at the end of November 2021. The list includes 13 companies that own 22 information resources. These (Google among its services are,, Google Play YouTube YouTube Music,,), Google Chat Gmail (,,),, Apple (iCloud App Store Apple Music actually Meta Platforms,), as well as,, social network,, Instagram,, WhatsApp Likeme Pte. Twitter TikTok Telegram Zoom Viber Spotify ltd ( ), , ,. Likee Discord Pinterest Twitch

It is not yet known for sure whether one of the companies on the list has begun negotiations with the supervisory authority. In addition, it is unclear whether a transition period will be granted.^[7]

The Ministry of Digital Development will introduce "digital residency" for foreign IT specialists

On December 23, 2021, it became known about Ministry of Digital Development 's plans to develop a "digital residency" mechanism for foreign IT specialists. The department's proposals are as follows:

• extend to foreign IT specialists the benefits provided for by the so-called tax maneuver;
• expand tax breaks on intellectual property. In Russia, such benefits do not apply to certain categories of products - for example, domain names, trademarks, design, as well as ways to commercialize them.
• to amend the legislation in order to establish the rules for processing remote work from abroad.
• establish flexible rules when IT companies work with foreign counterparties and minimize the risks of bringing them to criminal liability.

The Ministry of Digital Development will introduce "digital residency" for foreign IT specialists

One of the market participants familiar with the essence of the proposals told RBC about these measures. Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin confirmed to the publication that the department is working on a set of measures to create additional conditions for the relocation of foreign IT companies, including those with Russian roots, to Russian jurisdiction, as well as to simplify the procedure for attracting qualified IT specialists to work in Russia.

"Digital residency" is an important element of these measures. On the one hand, it will allow you to remotely, without the need for a physical presence in Russia, register a legal entity, get the opportunity to use the benefits of the "tax maneuver" and additional preferences, for example, removing excessive restrictions on currency and export control. On the other hand, a mechanism for the simplified hiring of foreign specialists will be created for Russian IT companies in the conditions of acute personnel hunger in the market, "said Parshin.

The representative of the Ministry of Labor said that the ministry as a whole supports the idea of ​ ​ introducing the status of a "digital resident," but opposes the change in the Labor Code: the department believes that foreign workers should be attracted within the framework of civil law, and not labor relations, for example, for a contract.^[8]

Roskomnadzor demanded that 13 technology companies open representative offices in Russia. List

On November 22, 2021, Roskomnadzor demanded that 13 technology companies open representative offices in Russia.

Roskomnadzor demanded that 13 technology companies open representative offices in the Russian Federation

The list includes:

• Google (services, Youtube Youtube Music,, and Google Play Google Chat); Gmail
• Apple (iCloud, App Store, Apple Music);
• Facebook Instagram WhatsApp Meta Platforms ( , , );
• Twitter;
• TikTok Pte;
• Telegram Messenger;
• Zoom Video Communications;
• Likeme;
• Viber Media;
• Discord;
• Pinterest;
• Spotify;
• Twitch Interactive.

These companies will also have to post an electronic feedback form with Russian users on their website, register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website for interaction with authorities and set a recommended attendance counter on the information resource. In addition, they are obliged to restrict access to information that violates Russian law.

Viber's press service told Forbes that the company "understands the importance of such initiatives for the market" and will continue to work in accordance with Russian law.

The norm on the opening of a branch, representative office or authorized legal entity in Russia from January 1, 2022 is spelled out in the law, which the State Duma adopted in June 2021. It covers foreign Internet resources with a daily audience of 500 thousand users.

In October 2021, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) proposed to consider the statements of Roskomnadzor on the ban on advertising of foreign IT companies in an accelerated manner, and not as within a month. At the same time, it is unclear how exactly Roskomnadzor will regulate and block the facts of the distribution of advertising in foreign social networks and Internet resources that have not opened their branch in Russia. By November 2021, there are no ready-made tools for this, and bailiffs cannot collect any fines from such IT companies and block their foreign accounts.^[9]

Create a blacklist of foreign IT companies without branches in Russia

On July 20, 2021, it became known that Roskomnadzor would maintain a black list of foreign IT companies that would refuse to open representative offices in the country in violation of the requirements of Russian law.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the draft government decree published by the Ministry of Digital Development, Roskomnadzor will keep two lists:

• the first will include IT companies that do not comply with Russian law. Banks will be obliged to block all cash payments to them;
• the second will include foreign payment service providers accepting payments from companies on the first list.

Roskomnadzor creates a black list of foreign IT companies without branches in Russia

Suppliers will face blocking if they do not eliminate violations within 30 days. If the payment provider is violated again, the department will add it to the register.

The list of departments will be kept in the public domain, with the exception of personal data contained in them. Roskomnadzor will be obliged to exclude the company from it within three days after fulfilling the requirements of the law or by a court decision.

According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, such tough measures to restrict the commercial activities of foreign companies in Russia have not yet been taken. In addition, Russian banks will have to make significant adjustments to the operation of their systems to fulfill new restrictions. This will require additional costs on their part, which are not compensated by law.

The law, which entered into force on July 1, 2021, included 20 large foreign technology companies, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, AliExpress, Gmail, Ikea, Wikipedia. Among the goals of the law is to make transparent the financial flows passing through foreign IT companies. There is also a restriction on payments and transfers for refusing to "land" in the law.^[10][11]

Putin ordered large IT companies to open representative offices in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law obliging large foreign IT companies (primarily Internet services) to open representative offices in Russia. The corresponding document on July 1, 2021 appeared on the official portal of legal information.

According to the law, from January 1, 2021, companies developing Internet services with a daily audience in the Russian Federation of more than 509 thousand users will have to create branches, open representative offices or establish legal entities in the Russian Federation that will "fully represent the interests of parent companies."

Vladimir Putin ordered large IT companies to open representative offices in the Russian Federation

The preliminary list of platforms whose owners may be required to open branches or representative offices in Russia includes Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Google, etc.

In addition to opening representative offices, companies also need to register a personal account on the site. Roskomnadzor On their websites, they must post an electronic form for feedback with Russian citizens and organizations.

If the company does not comply with the requirements, "coercion measures" may be applied to it:

• Labeling on non-compliance with legislation in search engines.
• Exclusion from search engines.
• Ban on advertising in Russia and on the placement on these services of advertising aimed at Russians.
• Inclusion in the list of persons who are prohibited from transferring money, accepting payments from individuals and legal entities.
• Prohibition on the collection and transfer of personal data.
• Partial and complete blocking in Russia.

In May 2021, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, explained that the law was necessary after Google LLC answered Roskomnadzor that it had nothing to do with Google LLC, to which the authorities had questions. And also when TikTok, according to Kiriyenko, recommended political content for viewing for children 14 years old. When asked by the authorities about the reason, it turned out that the representative office in Russia does not have legal powers.^[12]"

Foreign IT companies may be obliged to open representative offices in the Russian Federation

On March 18, 2021, it became known about the plans of the Government of the Russian Federation to create a "digital residency" system in the country for foreign IT companies. The latter, if implemented, innovations will have to register legal entities in the Russian Federation and pay taxes. It is expected that such a requirement will apply to businesses with an audience of more than 100-500 thousand users in Russia.

Such an initiative, according to Kommersant, is included in the plan for supporting the IT industry, sent for approval to the relevant Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. It is necessary to ensure equal conditions for the implementation of legislation for foreign and Russian companies operating in the country, Alexander Zhuravlev, chairman of the commission of the Moscow branch of the Russian Bar Association (AYUR), told the newspaper. Russian companies, unlike foreign ones, are required to pay VAT, and such inequality forces them to register abroad, the expert noted. Among such companies, for example, Yandex and Telegram.

Foreign IT companies may be required to open representative offices in Russia

According to Boris Edidin, Deputy General Director for Legal Affairs of the Institute for Internet Development, new requirements may include Google and Facebook, which earn in Russia on advertising. He added that the list of future "digital residents" may include service aggregators that form significant revenues in Russia (Booking, Amazon and others), content and game services (Wargaming.net, Steam and others), owners of instant messengers, social networks and app stores. AYUR proposes for non-compliance with the requirement for registration of legal entities in Russia to prohibit applications of foreign companies from being placed in application stores for a Russian audience and to advertise government agencies and companies with state participation.

The "digital residency" system is needed not only for remote registration of legal entities, but also to give IT companies the opportunity for electronic document management, says Karen Ghazaryan, an analyst at the Russian Association of Electronic Communications.^[13]

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