The State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation has given their recommendation to introduce fines for financial and credit organizations that use foreign messengers. The bill is now set for consideration in the first reading by the lower house of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on May 18.
Official and legal entities may soon face administrative penalties as a result of the bill. Fines will range from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles for officials and 100,000 to 700,000 rubles for legal entities. If the law is passed, it will come into effect as soon as it’s published. Roskomnadzor will issue violation protocols, however, court decisions will determine the punishment. One-year statute of limitations for violations will also be set.
This bill follows the March 1, 2023 amendments made to the Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection”. The new amendments prohibit the use of foreign messengers with some Russian companies.
The use of foreign messengers is prohibited for state-owned companies, companies with more than 50% state participation, and financial organizations. This means that companies responsible for carrying out public services or state tasks are prohibited from using foreign messengers. In addition, the transfer of payment information and personal data of Russian citizens via messengers is not allowed.
The list of prohibited foreign messengers includes Discord, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Snapchat, Telegram, Threma, Viber, WhatsApp, and WeChat.