On July 01, 2021, Federal Law No. 236-FZ "On the Activities of Foreign Persons in the Internet Information and Telecommunications Network on the Territory of the Russian Federation" came into force, according to which new control measures are being introduced over the activities of foreign representatives of the IT segment in Russia. Presumably, about twenty of the largest foreign platforms, for example, AliExpress, Google, WhatsApp and Wikipedia, will fall under the new law.
Globally, we are talking about foreign owners of resources, which are used by more than 500 thousand Russian users per day, and who, in particular, distribute information in Russian, use advertising to attract Russian users, process information about them or receive money from Russian individuals.
Such companies are required to post a form on their resource for sending appeals from Russians, as well as register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website for interaction with state bodies of the Russian Federation.
From January 01, 2022, such companies will also be required to establish a branch, open a representative office or establish a legal entity on the territory of the Russian Federation for interaction with Russian government agencies and individuals. Such divisions will have to restrict access to or delete information from the company's website when it is distributed in violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation.
For non-compliance with the law, sanctions are provided: informing users of the resource about violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation, a ban on the distribution of advertising, restriction of money transfers and payment acceptance, a ban on search results, a ban on the collection and transfer of personal data abroad, as well as full or partial restriction of access to the resource.