Russian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill providing for stricter penalties for foreign internet companies that fail to open an office in Russia, including fines.
Moscow has long sought to exert greater control over
technology firms, and disputes over content and data have intensified since it
sent armed forces into Ukraine on February 24.
Foreign social media giants with more than 500,000 daily
users have been obliged since July 1, 2021, to open offices in Russia or risk
penalties ranging up to outright bans.
Now, the turnover fines that Russia has imposed on the likes
of Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms for hosting banned content could be
applied to companies that fail to open offices, after the lower house passed
the bill in the second of three readings.
Fines could be as high as 10 percent of a company's turnover
in Russia from the previous year, rising to up to 20 percent for repeat
violations.
The state communications regulator Roskomnadzor last
November listed 13 mostly US companies required to set up on Russian soil by
the end of the year.
Only Apple, Spotify, Rakuten Group's messaging app Viber and
the photo-sharing app Likeme have fully complied — though Spotify closed its
office in March in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine and subsequently
suspended its streaming service.
Meta, which Russia found guilty of "extremist
activity" in March, is no longer listed, and its Facebook and Instagram
platforms are banned, although its messaging app WhatsApp is not.
Four other companies have fulfilled at least one other
Roskomnadzor requirement but have not established a Russian legal entity or
office. Those were Google, Twitter, ByteDance's TikTok and Zoom Video
Communications, according to the government website.
The chat tool Discord, Amazon's live streaming unit Twitch,
the messaging app Telegram, the bookmarking service Pinterest and Wikipedia
owner Wikimedia Foundation have taken no steps to comply, according to the
website.
The new bill would also place restrictions on Russians'
personal data being transferred abroad and require entities planning on doing
so to notify the communications regulator in advance.
The law, passed in its second reading by the lower house of
parliament, or State Duma, is one of several the government has been working on
as Russia deals with the fallout from hefty Western sanctions imposed in
response to Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.
"Current legislation practically does not regulate the
cross-border transfer of personal data, which poses a significant threat in the
current foreign policy situation," read an explanatory note accompanying
the bill.
The bill's authors say more than 2,500 entities registered
in Russia handle personal data and transfer them to other countries, including
"unfriendly" nations that have imposed sanctions.
Companies wanting to transfer data abroad will have to
notify the regulator, Roskomnadzor, for each country a measure that was
softened after a raft of internet companies objected, according to the business
outlet Forbes.
Roskomnadzor considers countries that are party to Council
of Europe data protection regulation as offering adequate safeguards, along
with 29 other mostly African and Asian countries, but not the United States.
Among the "unfriendly" countries approved by
Roskomnadzor are numerous European members of the NATO defence alliance as well
as Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
The draft still needs to pass a third reading in the Duma
and a review by the upper house before President Vladimir Putin can sign it
into law. © Reuters