Meta Platforms in Russia

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2024

Russian court sentenced Meta spokeswoman in absentia to six years in prison

On April 22, 2024, the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow sentenced in absentia the press secretary of Meta Corporation (in Russia it was recognized as extremist, its activities are prohibited) Andy Stone to six years in a general regime colony. A US citizen was found guilty of justifying terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Read more here.

Rosfinmonitoring introduced Meta's press secretary to the list of terrorists and extremists

In February 2024, Rosfinmonitoring included in the list of extremists and terrorists a spokeswoman for Meta (the company is recognized as extremist in Russia, its activities are prohibited) Andy Stone. The relevant information is contained on the website of the department. Read more here.

Full penalty collection in Russia

Bailiffs in Russia have fully recovered billions of fines from Google and Meta (the company is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation, its activities are prohibited) - by January 1, 2024, there is no data on enforcement proceedings against these companies in the bank of the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP).

Google and Meta announced the completion of penalties from Russian subsidiaries. " Interfax The agency recalls that earlier in relation to Google, the court imposed two working fines in the amount of 29 billion, in rubles relation to Meta - one working fine of 2 billion rubles. Google and Meta have been fined several times for refusing to remove illegal materials. 

Earlier , the Tverskoy Court of Moscow, when deciding to ban Meta in Russia for extremism, indicated that Russians can continue to use Facebook and Instagram without risk of being prosecuted (these services belong to Meta).

By the beginning of 2024, a law came into force in Russia obliging social networks to independently identify and block illegal content within 24 hours. Such content includes materials containing obvious disrespect for society, state symbols, power and the Constitution, insulting human dignity, as well as calls for participation in unauthorized rallies.^[1]

2023

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has put on the wanted list a spokeswoman for Meta in the case of promoting terrorism

On November 26, 2023, it became known that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation had put on the wanted list in Russia a spokeswoman for Meta (recognized as an extremist organization; activities in the Russian Federation are prohibited) Andy Stone (Andy Stone). He became a defendant in the criminal case, but the article according to which he is brought to justice is not specified as of the specified date. Read more here.

Facebook audience in Russia fell 3.5 times

In February 2023, on average, at least once a day, 6% of Russians over 12 years old entered the Instagram social network (owned by Meta, which was recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), which is 5 times less than in February 2022 (then the average daily coverage of the service was 31%). This is evidenced by Mediascope data, which was released in early March 2023. Read more here.

2022

Recovery of a fine over 2 billion rubles

As it became known on November 16, 2022, the Federal Bailiff Service opened enforcement proceedings against Meta Platforms (owns Facebook and Instagram, is recognized as an extremist organization and is banned in Russia, social networks are blocked). More than 2 billion rubles will be forcibly charged from it.

As follows from the FSSP data bank, the new enforcement proceedings were instituted on the basis of the decision of the judicial district 422 of the Tagansky district of Moscow of August 1, 2022.

In 2022, bailiffs opened several cases to recover fines from Meta, including turnover - in the amount of 1.9 billion rubles, for repeated refusal to remove content prohibited in Russia.

Dmitry Galantsev, managing partner of the Propozitum law firm, in a conversation with Kommersant, noted that the bailiffs have two options for collecting money from the company. It is assumed that Meta has some property on the territory of the Russian Federation, including bank accounts. In this case, enforcement proceedings will take place by foreclosure. Money potentially in accounts in Russia will be written off against the execution of a court decision, and the property will be sold by bailiffs.

If there is none in Russia, then the FSSP employees will issue a decision on the impossibility of recovery. The only sensible further move is to enforce this decision in the United States, which is unlikely due to political modern realities. As for such procedures, this is a separate trial that will take place in the United States under their law, within the framework of which the possibility of recognizing and enforcing the relevant decision of the Russian court in America will be considered, Galantsev said.

The bailiffs in this case will simply finish the enforcement proceedings, and that's it - it will end in nothing if there is no property. That is, the bailiff will be forced to issue a decision on the impossibility of its collection and termination of enforcement proceedings. At the same time, the collector will have the decision of the 422nd judicial district of the Tagansky district. With him, he can go to the States and try to enforce it there. Production before final recovery can last long enough, since legally bailiffs are not limited to anything, Galantsev added.^[2]

Russian ex-football player Khokhlov sued Facebook for 65 million rubles for blocking an account due to the consonance of the name with the nickname of Ukrainians

In October 2022, Russian ex-football player Dmitry Khokhlov sued Facebook (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) 65 million rubles for blocking an account due to the consonance of the surname with the nickname Ukrainians. Read more here.

Moscow City Court rejected Meta's appeal against the decision of the court of first instance

Moscow City Court rejected the complaint about the ban Russia social networks Facebook in and (Instagram prohibited in) RUSSIAN FEDERATION and the recognition of the company's products (Meta recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization, its activities are prohibited in Russia). extremist The decision of the Tverskoy District Court was stopped unchanged, the complaint was not satisfied; the ban finally came into force. This became known on June 21, 2022.

Facebook has been blocked in Russia since March 4, Instagram since the 14th, and on March 21, a court in Moscow recognized the activities of social networks as extremist and banned them in Russia. However, after that, the company remained entitled to appeal.

The ban on Meta social networks was a response to the publication of an internal letter from the company, which stated that it temporarily lifts the ban on residents of a number of countries from posting information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens, including military personnel.

On March 11, the Prosecutor General's Office appealed to the court with a demand to recognize Meta as an extremist organization. and the Investigative Committee opened criminal cases under Part 2 of Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (propaganda of terrorism) and paragraph "a" of Part 2 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement to hatred and enmity with the threat of violence) on the fact of the actions of the company's management.

Despite the ban on Facebook and Instagram, another Meta product, they messenger WhatsApp did not ban in Russia^[3]

Meta appealed the ban on its activities in Russia

On May 1, 2022, it became known that Meta, recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization, appealed against the court's decision of March 21, 2022 to ban the company's activities.

The decision was appealed in court Moscow to ban its activities as an extremist organization. Po, information MEDIA earlier several complaints from interested parties were also filed against the court decision.

Appeal dates have not yet been set^[4] on^[5].

Yandex removed the sites of Instagram, Facebook and publications blocked in Russia from the search

On April 18, 2022, Yandex announced the removal of official Instagram and Facebook sites from search results (banned in Russia; belong to Meta, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation). VK did the same. Read more here.

Blocking a recognized extremist Meta will cost it $2-2.2 billion a year

Due to the blocking of services Meta (the organization is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation, its activities in the country are prohibited) Russia , the company does not count about $2-2.2 billion in revenues per year. Such a calculation at the end of March 2022 was made at the Center for the Study of Financial Technologies and Digital Analytics "-Skolkovo RASH."

In particular, about $1.3 billion will lose Facebook annually and about $823.6 million - Instagram. Both social networks are blocked in Russia by the end of March 2022, but the WhatsApp messenger, which is also owned by Meta, remains in operation. In these calculations, losses of direct revenue are estimated and capitalization and losses of indirect income are not taken into account, said Yegor Krivoshey, head of research at the center.

Given that the precedent has caused a mixed reaction in many countries, the decline in capitalization may be significantly more significant, but depends on many factors that form the expectations of investors and consumers, he explained.

It is noted that the estimates of Skolkovo-NES analysts are based on past revenue data and do not take into account, for example, the different activity of buying advertising in social networks depending on the country, the pace of advertising (and this is Meta's main source of income) and alternative projects and ways of making money that were not popular in Russia: for example, sales within applications.

As Forbes clarifies with reference to the data of the statistical service Statista, the Facebook audience in the country numbered about 66 million users, and on each of them the company earned about $19.68 per year or about $3.6 million per day. On an annualized basis, the amount was about $1.3 billion. Having lost the Russian market, Meta lost its income from the Instagram network in Russia, which numbered 64 million active users.^[6]

Recognition of Facebook and Instagram activities in Russia as extremist

Tverskoy Court of Moscow On March 21, 2022, the lawsuit Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian federation recognized the activities social networks Instagram Facebook of the company and Meta Platforms Inc. extremist banned them on the territory. Russia More. here

Meta asked not to ban its activities in Russia, but the court approved the ban

Meta (Facebook) believes that the Russian authorities do not have the right to prohibit its activities in Russia.

On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow considers the application of the Prosecutor General's Office to recognize Meta (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) as an extremist organization and ban its activities in the Russian Federation.

Meta asked the Tver court to stop considering the application of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation to ban its activities on the grounds that this issue does not fall under the competence of Russian courts.

"Meta is a foreign legal entity with no representative offices in the Russian Federation. On this basis, we ask you to stop the proceedings in this case, "said a company representative

.

As a result, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow listened to the Prosecutor General's Office and decided that calls for the murder of the Russian military were already too much. WhatsApp will continue to operate.

After blocking in Russia, the company introduces a ban on calls for murder and death wishes to heads of state

On March 14, Meta Platforms banned Facebook and Instagram users from leaving calls for murder and death wishes to heads of state. This was reported by Reuters with reference to an internal letter to company employees from Meta Vice President Nick Clegg:

"We

are narrowing the focus on making clear in the leadership that it can never be interpreted as condoning violence in general against Russians. We also do not allow calls for the assassination of the head, "Clegg states wrote. - Meta opposes Russophobia. We are intolerant of calls for genocide, ethnic cleansing, any discrimination, persecution or violence against Russians on our platform. "

Resolution of calls for violence against Russians. The Prosecutor General's Office asks to recognize Meta as an extremist organization and ban its activities in the Russian Federation

and will temporarily Facebook Instagram allow calls for violence against Russians and the the Russian military, writes March 10, 2022, citing Reuters internal emails to moderators. content More. here

On the same day, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation asks the court to recognize Meta as an extremist organization and prohibit its activities in Russia. Roskomnadzor will restrict access to Instagram. A criminal case has been opened in connection with the illegal actions of Meta employees.

On March 11, Meta announced that the new Facebook and Instagram policy, which allows negative statements against, among other things, Russian military personnel, will be applied only in Ukraine, allowing local users to "express anger" at the Russian troops.

Since March 14, 2022, the social network Instagram has been blocked in Russia.

Roskomnadzor blocks social network against the background of a special operation in Russia in Ukraine

Roskomnadzor decided to block access to the Facebook network in Russia, the agency reported on March 4, 2022 against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

Blocking RT and Sputnik accounts in EU countries

In February 2022, against the background of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Meta restricts access to the accounts of the Russian state media Russia Today and Sputnik in the European Union, said Nick Clegg, vice president of the company.

Microsoft is also blocking RT and Sputnik, downgrading them in giving out Bing, removing apps and Microsoft ads.

Execution of 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. Read more here.

2021

Fine of 1.9 billion rubles for repeated failure to remove prohibited content

In December 2021, Meta in Russia was imposed a negotiable fine of 1.9 billion rubles - for repeated failure to remove prohibited content.

A fine of 13 million rubles and a refusal to remove content prohibited in the Russian Federation

On December 16, 2021, the World Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow fined Meta another 13 million rubles for refusing to remove content that is prohibited by Russian law. The company was found guilty of committing administrative offenses under Part 2 and 4 of Art. 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (failure by the owner of the site to remove information if the obligation to remove such information is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation).

Fines were issued under three protocols in the amount of 5 million, 5 million and 3 million rubles, respectively. The total amount of penalties against the owner of the social network Facebook amounted to about 83 million rubles. According to TASS, the Federal Bailiff Service has begun compulsory recovery.

In 2021 Roskomnadzor , administrative protocols are drawn up regarding social networks that have not removed or untimely removed prohibited Russia content, including calls for minors to participate in unauthorized actions.

Prohibited information includes calls for extremism, child pornography, information about drug use, sale of fake documents, casino advertising, etc.

In early December 2021, Roskomnadzor announced that the total amount of fines for Google, Meta and Tiktok in 2021 amounted to 111.6 million rubles. At the same time, Meta paid eight fines for 26 million rubles.

IT expert Ilya Kostunov considers fines against Meta to be natural:

When Facebook and Twitter came to the Russian-language Internet, companies in user agreements indicated that disputes were resolved under US law. It would be strange if the US authorities were interested in taking care of Russian users. Now, there are laws, the rules are clear. You need to observe them.

According to Kostunov, fines and traffic deceleration are preliminary tools for demonstrating decisiveness and consistency.^[7]

Roskomnadzor forced Facebook to remove prohibited content

In early October 2021, Roskomnadzor announced that Facebook had fulfilled the agency's requirement to remove content banned in the Russian Federation. However, the world's largest social network still faces a fine.

The fact that illegal information was removed from Facebook and Instagram was told to Vedomosti by a representative of Roskomnadzor. The American company did this after on October 4, Roskomnadzor drew up a protocol on Facebook for repeated failure to remove illegal materials (part 5 of article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation). Such an offense involves a fine  of 10% to 20% of the annual turnover of an Internet company.

Violations include the sale of fake certificates and diplomas, casino advertising, as well as publications calling for extremism, child porn and information on drug use.

Roskomnadzor said that the protocol refers to nine posts  on Facebook and Instagram that violate Russian laws. From 2019 to October 2021, Roskomnadzor sent Facebook more than 100 notifications demanding to remove them, but the company did nothing.

According to the law, the social network was obliged to remove prohibited content in the first day after the requirement of Roskomnadzor. Now the company can be fined between 1/20 and 1/10 of the annual turnover. Facebook's revenue in the Russian Federation for 2020 amounted to about 39 billion rubles, that is, companies can impose a fine of 2-4 billion rubles.

Such a fine, according to the general director of the Safe Internet League Ekaterina Mizulina, is not such a significant amount for a global corporation.

But we see that neither Facebook, nor Instagram, nor any other large BN platforms are profitable to leave Russia, because the Russian market still brings them tangible profits, "she told Vedomosti[8]

A fine of 21 million rubles for refusing to remove prohibited content

On September 14, 2021, the Moscow Magistrate's Court fined Facebook 21 million rubles for refusing a social network to delete information that is prohibited by Russian law. Thus, the total amount of fines from the company in Russia exceeded 90 million rubles.

The court considered five administrative protocols regarding Facebook under Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation ("Failure by the owner of an information resource on the Internet of information if the obligation to remove it is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation") and imposed fines in the amount of 21 million rubles, - quotes TASS a statement by a court representative.

A fine for a similar violation on September 14, 2021 was also received from the court by Twitter and Telegram services - by 5 and 9 million rubles, respectively.

It is noted that since the beginning of 2021, Facebook has repeatedly become a defendant in administrative cases and has been prosecuted for violating Russian law: failure to remove prohibited content and refusal to localize data from Russian users in Russia.

Earlier in 2021, Roskomnadzor drew up protocols on administrative offenses on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Telegram and YouTube due to the fact that social networks refused to delete information about calls for children to take part in unauthorized actions in support of the politician Alexei Navalny.

In addition, Roskomnadzor demanded that Facebook immediately remove advertising of vacancies for drug couriers from Instagram and take measures to prevent their further placement. Also, the department in an ordered tone asked Facebook to bring into line the moderation and premoderation mechanisms of the posted advertising and user content in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.^[9]

A fine of 6 million rubles for refusing to delete content

In July 2021, the World Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow fined Facebook another 6 million rubles for refusing to remove content prohibited by Russian law. As a result, the total amount of penalties from the world's largest social network in the Russian Federation since the beginning of 2021 has reached 49 million rubles.

Facebook was found guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part Two of Article 13.41 ("failure by the owner of the site or the owner of an information resource in the information and telecommunication network" Internet "of information or an Internet page if the obligation to remove such information, the Internet page is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation). According to the legislation in force by July 2021, if the Internet platform, after notification from the department, has not limited access to prohibited information, then it can be punished in the amount of 800 thousand to 4 million rubles. In case of repeated violation, the penalty is increased to one tenth of the total amount of annual revenue.

Facebook in July 2021 received two fines of 3 million rubles each. As the press secretary of the Tagansky court Zulfiya Gurinchuk told Interfax, Facebook representatives did not come to court.

The court did not specify for the refusal of which messages was fined by Facebook. Earlier Roskomnadzor , they stated that the service draws up administrative protocols regarding various social networks that did not delete or untimely removed calls, including for minors, to participate in unauthorized actions. The claims against the companies are also related to the failure to remove content about suicides, drugs and child pornography, as well as to the refusal to localize the data of Russian users on the territory. Russia^[10]

A fine of 17 million rubles for refusing to remove prohibited content

On June 10, 2021, the World Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow found the Facebook social network and the Telegram messenger guilty of failing to remove illegal content and sentenced them to fines of 17 million and 10 million rubles, respectively.

Roskomnadzor ordered Facebook to localize the data of Russians until July 1

Foreign social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, will have to localize the personal data of Russian users by July 1, 2021. This was announced on May 26 by the deputy head of Roskomnadzor Milos Wagner at the final meeting of the board of the department. Read more here.

A fine of 26 million rubles for non-removal of prohibited content

On May 25, 2021, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow fined Facebook 26 million rubles for refusing to remove content banned in Russia.

As the press secretary of the Tagansky District Court Zulfiya Gurinch told RIA Novosti, eight protocols were considered under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code on the failure to delete prohibited information. In six Facebook cases, fines of 3 million rubles were issued, in two protocols we are talking about punishment in the amount of 4 million rubles.

On June 10, 2021, the court will consider two more similar protocols, as well as two materials under Part 4 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code ("Failure to call for extremist activities, materials with child pornography, information on the methods of production and use of drugs").

Non-removal of content by the owner of a site or information resource, according to Russian law, entails a fine on citizens in the amount of 50 thousand to 100 thousand rubles; for officials - from 200 thousand to 400 thousand rubles; for legal entities - from 800 thousand to 4 million rubles.

To identify prohibited information on the social network, Roskomnadzor uses artificial intelligence, as reported in the department on May 25, 2021. Roskomnadzor uses both its own technological developments and elements of third-party Russian companies.

At the same time, the decision to block the site is made not by the program, but by authorized employees, after which the data is transferred in the registry format to telecom operators.

The head of Roskomnadzor, Andrei Lipov, told Kommersant that the department does not have an installation to block the work of foreign and domestic social networks and other Internet platforms.

Interlocks should be applied as a last resort. Our task is not to turn it off. Our task is to comply with Russian legislation in these services, "he explained.[11]

2020

Revenue 39.8 billion rubles

in FTS Russia January 2022, it named the revenue of Meta Facebook(,, Instagram WhatsApp) in Russia - 39.8 billion for rubles 2020. This is several times less than that of (Google 144.4 billion rubles).

Facebook could face fine of up to one-fifth of annual revenue for failing to remove banned content

On December 18, 2020, it became known that YouTube Facebook it would face a fine of up to one fifth of annual revenue for repeated failure to comply with the requirement to remove the prohibited in. RUSSIAN FEDERATION content Amendments to the relevant bill approved. State Duma Committee on Information Policy More. here

Facebook paid 4 million rubles for refusing to transfer servers with Russian data to Russia

On November 26, 2020, it became known that Facebook she paid a fine of 4 million rubles for refusing to transfer Russia servers to the data of Russians. The Tagansky court Moscow received an order to end the enforcement proceedings, said its spokeswoman Zulfiya Grinchuk.

Earlier in 2020, the world section of the Tagansky district decided to recognize Twitter and Facebook guilty under Part 8 of Art. 13.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses ("Violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of personal data") and impose an administrative fine on both companies in the amount of 4 million rubles. The requirements for a report on the localization in the Russian Federation of the databases of personal data of Russian users Twitter and Facebook were sent by Roskomnadzor at the end of December 2018, but the department did not receive a specific response from the companies.

Twitter later appealed the court's decision. The company stated that it is ready to spend funds on lawyers, but refuses to enter the Russian legal field, and Roskomnadzor has no right to demand information about user data, since the company is a foreign legal entity without representation in Russia.

At the end of January 2020, the then deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media RFAlexey Volin said that a large fine could be a more effective measure. He ruled out blocking.

In several countries of the world, laws have been passed that oblige citizens to store personal data on servers physically located in the state. In Russia, such a law entered into force in 2015.

At the end of 2019, amendments were adopted that repeatedly increased fines for refusing to localize the data of Russians. Now for violation threatens from 1 to 6 million rubles.^[12]

Russia may allow blocking YouTube and Facebook

On November 19, 2020, information appeared that a bill was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, allowing, by decision of the Prosecutor General, to block resources caught in censorship.

In Russia, it may be allowed at the legislative level to block YouTube, Facebook and other services for censorship. The corresponding bill was introduced by Senator Alexei Pushkov and six deputies and will soon be considered by the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Read more here.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation allowed to sue Facebook in Russian courts

On July 13, 2020, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (SC) allowed Facebook to be sued in Russian courts. Claims for the protection of the rights of the subject of personal data, including compensation for losses and compensation for harm, can be brought to court at the place of residence of the plaintiff, the ruling of the Supreme Court says.

The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court, having considered the cassation appeal on the claim of ex-senator Yevgeny Tarlo, who died in June 2020, concluded that claims for the removal and blocking of accounts or individual publications on the social network Facebook can be filed by Russians in Russian courts.

Tarlo and several other people filed a lawsuit against Facebook in the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow in February 2019. Several people asked the Tverskoy Court of Moscow to restore the blocked accounts, but he refused, citing the lack of jurisdiction of the case. However, the Tverskoy court refused to consider the claim, citing the lack of jurisdiction of this dispute, as well as the fact that Facebook did not provide any services to the plaintiffs, which means that no legal relations developed between them.

The Moscow City Court also refused the claim, indicating additionally that claims against legal entities should be brought at their location, and Facebook in Russia has neither a representative office nor any property.

However, the Supreme Court recalled that, according to the Civil Procedure Code, Russian courts have the right to consider cases with the participation of foreign legal entities if the defendant spreads advertising aimed at consumers on the territory of the Russian Federation on the Internet. In addition, claims for the protection of personal data may be considered at the place of residence of the plaintiff.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated that the conclusions of the first instance contradict the norms of law. The ruling of the Supreme Court says that Russian courts have the right to consider cases with the participation of foreign persons if the defendant distributes advertising aimed at Russians; if the claim arises from a contract that is executed in the Russian Federation; if the subject of personal data lives in Russia.^[13]

Roskomnadzor opened an administrative case against Facebook and Twitter

On January 31, 2020 Businessman , he announced that he Roskomnadzor had opened an administrative case against Facebook and for Twitter the fact that the companies did not localize data the Russian users in the servers territory. A year Russia earlier, both companies had already been fined 3 thousand rubles, but then it was about failure to provide. information

Earlier, the head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, said that on December 31, 2019, the department sent requests for the localization of databases to these companies and they had to answer by January 31, 2020.

The case against Facebook and Twitter was initiated under Part 8 of Art. 13.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO; non-fulfillment by the operator of the obligation to store the data of Russian users in Russia). This part was introduced into the Administrative Code by amendments of December 2; the fine for violators ranges from 1 million to 6 million rubles, and in case of repeated violation - from 6 million to 18 million rubles.

In 2019, both American companies were already found guilty in the case initiated by Roskomnadzor, but then it was about Art. 19.7 of the Administrative Code ("Failure to provide information (information)"). Facebook and Twitter received minimum fines of 3 thousand rubles, and the latter tried to challenge her guilty plea in the Supreme Court. On December 27, 2019, the Supreme Court recognized the decisions of all lower courts regarding Twitter as fair, leaving the company's complaint without satisfaction^[14].

2019

Roskomnadzor accused Google and Facebook of interfering in elections

Roskomnadzor accused Facebook and Google of illegally distributing political materials on a "day of silence" before the elections of deputies on September 9, 2019. The department said that such actions can be considered as "interference in the sovereign affairs of Russia and obstruction of democratic elections." Read more here.

Roskomnadzor issued a fine to Facebook

Roskomnadzor The Office for the Central Federal District drew up an administrative offense protocol against the company in March 2019. Facebook The protocol was drawn up under Article 19.7 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation due to the fact that the company did not provide the necessary information about the localization of the databases of personal data of Russian users on the territory, the Russia ministry said in a statement.

In December 2018, Roskomnadzor sent a corresponding motivated request to Facebook, but did not receive a response.

Within the deadlines established by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the document will be sent to the magistrate to make a decision on administrative responsibility. The maximum fine under this article of the Administrative Code is 5,000 rubles.

2018

Daily and monthly audience of mobile application in Russia

Facebook noted 65 thousand Russians as "interested in treason"

In July 2018, it became known that the advertising mechanism Facebook marked 65 thousand users from Russia as "interested in high treason." Later, when journalists began to investigate the situation, the tags were removed, and the category itself was eliminated. The Guardian believes that such labeling could potentially attract the attention of the authorities to marked users^[15]

Facebook explained that it did not mean treason as a criminal article, but the interest of users in this topic in history, their viewing of the relevant materials. The company claims that it excluded the category from the "Interests" category because in sound it really coincides with treason as a crime.

Facebook does not show the user's interests to others, but advertisers can see these interests using some of the social network's public tools. These tools allow, for example, to launch an advertising campaign aimed exclusively at users from Russia "interested in high treason" and find out the IP addresses of those users who click on the ad.

2017

Search for Russian Government Relations Manager

In early June, it became known that Google and Facebook opened vacancies for specialists in interaction with the Russian authorities^[16][17]Russia.

The Moscow office of Google is looking for a person who will interact with politicians within the government and beyond, as well as advise the team on local features of the development and promotion of services.

The candidate should have experience in interacting with officials and government agencies, as well as have the ability to easily delve into complex technical and political issues. In addition, the applicant is expected to have excellent analytical and organizational skills, a good sense of humor and excellent communication abilities.

Facebook is offering the candidate a job in Warsaw. The applicant for the position must combine "a passionate interest in services like Facebook and a deep understanding of the political and legislative dynamics in Russia." He will have to notify colleagues about the peculiarities of local legislation and its changes related to the work of Facebook, represent the company at meetings with officials and develop an official position of the team on certain public issues.

The applicant must be fluent in Russian, as well as have excellent English, both written and spoken. In addition, experience with politicians and officials of the "highest level" and "passionate faith in the public favor of the Internet and Facebook in particular" are required.

Only 4 user requests from Russian authorities

Facebook published^[18] in April 2017 a transparency report between July and December 2016. During this period, the social network received a total of 64,279 requests for data on users - 9% more compared to the first half of 2016. Almost half of these requests (26,104) came from the US authorities and in 83% of cases information was provided.

Russia demanded data on only four users. Despite this, the authorities refused all requests. The company does not explain why it made such a decision. It is also not reported what information the Russian authorities were interested in. Nevertheless, at the request of Roskomnadzor, the social network limited access to 121 material violating Russian laws. They are linked to extremism, the alcohol trade, illegal gambling, the promotion of suicide and self-harm.

The lion's share of all requests are related to felonies such as robberies and kidnappings, Facebook officials said. Basically, the authorities ask for basic information about the subscriber, for example, his name, account content, information about the IP address and how long he has been a user of the social network.

The company also notes that during the specified period the number of requests for content restriction decreased - from 9,663 in the first half of 2016 to 6,944 in the second half of the year.

Russian Foreign Ministry: Facebook encourages the spread of disinformation

Moscow has

questions for Facebook's leadership about the lack of blocking fake pages of Russian diplomatic missions abroad. This was stated at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova of the ^[19].

"On April 27, 2017, Facebook released a report on operations on this social network initiated by various non-governmental players in order to manipulate public opinion," the diplomat said. - In the arsenal of attackers who settled on Facebook, the spread through the so-called fake accounts of fabricated news and disinformation, spam, malicious materials. We welcome the decision of Facebook Corporation to draw the attention of the world community to the risks of using social networks and especially to the problem of misleading information campaigns, which we have repeatedly talked about, "she stressed.

According to her, Russia is regularly subjected to perverse information attacks on social networks. "Despite our numerous appeals, Facebook has not blocked the fake accounts of the Russian embassies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," the diplomat said. "In addition, recently we have identified similar false pages at the embassy in Sweden, which are used to deceive users of this social network."

"In fact, with its inaction, Facebook encourages the spread of disinformation," Zakharova emphasized. - At the same time, we are grateful to this company for the operational steps to unblock the pages of Russian foreign agencies that have been adopted. But, frankly, it's occupational health. I would like more in order to prevent further popularization of "fakes."

2012: Hiring programmers in Russian universities

In November 2012, it became known that three Facebook employees of Russian origin - Alexey Maikov, Maxim Gubin and Roman Chadnov, who work for the company in the positions of engineers (Software Engineer), began a lecture tour of Russian universities.

The program of the tour, which began on November 27, 2012 and is expected to end on December 11, includes 12 educational institutions, both metropolitan and Ural and Siberian, MSU-,, MIPT MEPhI, MAI, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg State Pedagogical University, ITMO, GUAP, NSTU, NSU SibGUTI, UrFU - as well as a speech to students of Tomsk.

Based on the professional specializations of the speakers, it can be judged that the lectures will raise the topics of developing a synchronous message system (Facebook chat), in which Alexey Maykov (works at the Facebook office in Redmond), News Feed, which was previously engaged in Maxim Gubin (works in Palo Alto) and the Facebook search engine, which he is engaged in now. In turn, Roman Chadnov (also from Palo Alto) is working on advertising services for the social network.

In addition to the technology side of the services, the lectures are expected to address the topics of student internships on Facebook.

Although the educational trip of the developers of the social network fits into the paradigm of "luring" Russian programmers on Facebook, the developer lecturers themselves emphasize that their duties do not include recruiting new personnel.

Maxim Gubin says that the only thing he could help students interested in working on Facebook is to suggest an email address to send a resume.

Apparently, the trip is not a preparatory event for the opening in Russia of the Facebook development center, which was discussed during the recent visit of the founder of the social network Mark Zuckerberg to Russia.

In a conversation with CNews, Maxim Gubin and his colleague Alexei Maikov said that Facebook now has four development centers: in Palo Alto, Redmond, New York and London, and they see no signs that in the near future the development center will appear in Russia.

Ekaterina Skorobogatova, Facebook Development Director in Russia, believes that Russia as a whole does not stand out among other countries in terms of the number of talented programmers: "We have a large country, 140 million people, and among them there are many talented programmers, but China is larger, and there are more talents" Zuckerberg^[20].

The arrival of Zuckerberg and his meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, we recall, was criticized by the founder of IBSnatoliy Karachinsky.

"Recently, a number of Russian programmers (as far as I know, those who have quite unique and rare competencies and work in excellent Russian companies) have received an invitation for an interview on Facebook with Comrade Zuckerberg. Those who went said that they were offered a job and immediate evacuation to America, "he wrote on his Facebook page

.

Karachinsky was shocked by information about Zuckerberg's upcoming meeting with the prime minister, as she gave the process of "brain removal" "a certain significance and legitimacy."

MIPT teacher Yuri Ammosov, when asked about the extent to which foreign employers are attractive to domestic development students, noted that those wishing to leave make up a noticeable share of students, although students who are firmly ready to stay to work in Russia also make up a significant share.

2011

Why does Facebook have no address on Runet? Because of unwillingness to pay taxes?

As of November 2011, Facebook did not acquire a domain in the.ru zone, although Zuckerberg's company is quite actively acquiring domains in other countries of presence. Addresses such as facebook.fr, facebook.vn, facebook.ca, etc., belong to a California company and forward the user to facebook.com. Particular attention is paid to the presence of an address in those countries where their own social networks are strong. So, facebook is in Brazilian.com.br (Orkut network), Japanese.jp (Gree, Mixi) Dutch.nl (Hyves), German.de (StudiVZ), Spanish.es (Tuenti), Polish.pl (Nasza-klasa).

It is also known about the most expensive Facebook domain transaction - a year ago, the American agricultural association Farm Bureau received $8.5 million for fb.com, and the purchase entered the top 10 most expensive domain transactions.

Facebook representatives have always shied away from meaningful comments on the topic of registration in the zone of.ru. As of November 2011, the facebook.ru domain belongs to CFT. As a source in the domain market told Marker.ru^[21], CFT wants at least $1 million for its asset.

Vadim Kolosov, a lawyer specializing in Internet law, believes that Facebook has high chances of simply suing the address from the CFT. The fact is, the expert says, that for Russian judges, the key is the temporary priority of registration - the domain against the company. Facebook Inc. took shape in a legal entity with the corresponding name in the summer of 2004, and CFT received the domain in May 2005. Also, the weight has such a moment as the use of a domain, but there is no site on the domain facebook.ru, and the judge may decide that its owner is abusing the right. For example, in 2004, Google sued Denis Gledenov google.ru.

There were no deals worth millions of dollars in the.ru domain yet. The most expensive domain turned out to be casino.ru - it was sold for $250 thousand. Koleso.ru changed ownership for $36,000. The price for which the vodka.ru domain was sold was not officially announced - according to unofficial information, it was about $20 thousand.

There is a possibility that Facebook refrains from acquiring a domain facebook.ru not because of the price, but in order not to give unnecessary reason for claims from the Russian tax authorities. Although Facebook has been advertising Russian companies since the fall of 2010, the corporation does not have its own representative office here, say participants in the online advertising market. Is the placement of Russian-language advertising of Russian goods and services on foreign servers considered taxable activities under the legislation of the Russian Federation?

Marina Emelyantseva, a lawyer for the Tax company, says that, based on the Russian-language rules published on the facebook.com, advertisers and users enter into legal relations with Facebook Ireland Limited. And with Ireland, Russia has an agreement "On the avoidance of double taxation in relation to income taxes." According to it, in the absence of a permanent representation in another state, the company pays taxes only in its country, continues Emelyantseva. At the same time, it is considered that there is no permanent representative office if the company conducts its activities in the territory of another state through intermediaries.

Indeed, Facebook sells advertising to Russian companies through reseller agencies, Internet advertising market participants say. They work according to different schemes - through other, foreign resellers - Facebook partners. This is why advertising is expensive compared to Russian competitors. With VAT, it is more difficult, but the issue of its payment also rests on the topic of mediation. In accordance with the letter of explanation of the Federal Tax Service of Moscow, Russian agencies must pay for a foreign company providing information services, since they are buyers of services, says Vadim Kolosov. The obligation to pay VAT is tied in contracts to end customers-advertisers, market participants know.

"There is the same incident as with the Internet casino. There is no need to come up with anything else here: the permanent mission to the Russian Federation does not open, since it is easier and more convenient to conduct advertising online, "concludes Emelyantseva.

Facebook representatives to questions about taxes limited themselves to a similar answer: "All advertising that Russian companies give on Facebook is posted through the online interface." And to sue the domain, Facebook does not need to open representative offices, lawyers can be hired without it.

9.3 million users in Russia

From January to August 2010, the audience Facebook grew from 1.2 million to 4.5 million Russians, and as of September 2011, 9.3 million (comScore data). The local "" Vkontakte for September - 34.2 million users. Zuckerberg cannot win with little blood on domestic social networks, says one of the participants in the online advertising market, - until now, Facebook Russia has been advertised mainly for barter.

In August 2011, according to SocialBakers, the audience of the Facebook social network in Russia was 4.37 million people. Russia ranks 29th in the world in terms of the number of Facebook users.

Facebook penetration among the total population of Russia is 3.14%, among the Russian Internet audience - 7.32%. Also, SocialBakers analysts note that in Russia the female audience of Facebook is larger than the male audience - the ratio is 53% versus 47% in favor of the fair sex. As for the age distribution, Facebook has the most Russian users in the category from 25 to 34 years old - such 34%. 31% of social network users belong to the category from 18 to 24 years old.

2010

Facebook is used by 19% of the Runet audience

According to the comScore report Facebook , only 19% of the audience used the network in 2010. In RuNet general, the penetration of social networks Russia in increased by 21.5% in 2010, reaching 83.4%. Facebook's most dedicated European Turkey audience lives in (92.2%). In second place Poland- 90.6%, in third - (Great Britain 87.9%). In Finland, Facebook accounts for 81% of all users. On average To Europe , 84.4% of social media users now (from the total online audience).

According to comScore, by December 2010, the Facebook network became the most popular in 15 of 18 European countries, except the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, where domestic social networks prefer. The Dutch prefer Hyves, the Poles prefer Nasza-klasa, and the Russians give themselves to the resources of VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and My World.

Buying domains "Мордокнига.рф" and "Лицокнига.рф"

In December 2010, the social network Facebook had an address in the.RF zone - "мордокнига.рф." Facebook did not limit itself to one Cyrillic address and at the same time bought the лицокнига.рф domain. If you enter "мордокнига.рф" and "лицокнига.рф" in the address bar, automatic forwarding to the domain takes place Facebook.com.

Mark Zuckerberg names Russia among priorities

In the summer of 2010, the founder of the portal, Mark Zuckerberg, outlined the main areas of expansion of the company - Russia, China, South Korea, Japan.

Ekaterina Skorobogatova - Director of Development in Russia

In the spring of 2010, she hired Ekaterina Skorobogatova, director of development in Russia. Facebook's activity began with the purchase of free mobile access to its website from Russian operators.

2009:478 thousand users in Russia

The Russian audience Facebook in February 2009 amounted to 478 thousand people, according to the ComScore report released on April 15. This is 67 times less than the 32 million audience of the social network In contact"," which is similar in design to Facebook. Nevertheless, the number of registrations on Russian Facebook is growing rapidly. Back in February 2008, only 117 thousand Russian users were registered on Facebook. Thus, over the year, the audience grew by 309 percent. In terms of audience size, Facebook RuNet ranks only seventh among social networks. In addition, Russia Facebook is not the largest network of only two of the 16 European countries in the study. It Germany is the fourth largest, and in Portugal it is the third. Facebook has a global audience of more than 200 million people, one of the largest social networks in the world. To Europe Facebook has about a hundred million users, of which over 22 million are in the UK.

2008: The beginning of Russification of the social network

Facebook began to Russify in 2008.

Notes