Russians put pressure Thursday on Facebook and Twitter to abide by a disputed federal data localization law by pursuing considerable higher penalties for repeat offenders.
Legislation introduced in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, recommends multi-million ruble fines for companies that continuously refuse to store Russian user data on Russian soil.
Enacted in 2015, the controversial data localization law has been sparsely enforced in the interim by either imposing fines on violators or banning them outright. The maximum fine currently allowed under the statute is negligible to most companies – 5,000 rubles, or about $77 – while blacklisting has previously proven problematic.
The updated version offered by United Russia politicians Viktor Pinsky and Daniel Bessarabov would increase penalties for companies found in violation of the data localization law to between 2 and 6 million rubles for first offenses, or between $30,980 and $92,930, to 18 million rubles for repeat offenses, or upwards of $278,000.
Alexander Zharov, the head of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal internet regulator, applauded the proposal while speaking with reporters.
“I very much hope that in the near future we will have this tool - heavy fines,” he said in Russian. “Blocking should be applied as a last resort when the company refuses any cooperation and all opportunities for dialogue are exhausted.”
“It should be borne in mind that these companies provide services to tens of millions of our citizens, so this can continue as long as the situation does not represent a real threat to national, corporate and personal security,” he said in another interview.
Twitter and Facebook were each found in violation of the law and fined in April to the tune of 3,000 rubles apiece, or fewer than $50. Both companies have appealed.
A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment when contacted by The Washington Times about the proposal. Facebook representatives did not immediately respond to a similar inquiry.
Russian regulators previously banned LinkedIn in 2016 after the jobs website was found in violation of the data localization law. More recently, a bungled effort by Russian to ban the Telegram app in 2018 resulted in massive internet disruptions throughout the country.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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