Legislation & regulation

Putin orders criminalization of online ‘drug propaganda’ in Russia

October 29, 2019

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s federal executive branch to develop new legislation that would criminalize “encouraging the use of or propagandizing narcotic substances, psychotropic substances, or their analogues using the information and telecommunication network known as the Internet.” Encouraging illegal drug use in Russia is currently an administrative violation punishable by …

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Russia’s Yandex and Mail.Ru report strong growth despite ownership threats

October 28, 2019

Russia’s flagship tech companies, LSE-listed Mail.Ru Group and NASDAQ-listed Yandex, both reported strong third-quarter results amid ongoing concerns over government proposals to limit foreign ownership in Russia’s largest technology companies. With revenues and earnings up at both companies, representatives confirmed they were lobbying the government to water down the potentially damaging legislation to the two …

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Yandex shares bounce back as Russia softens foreign ownership rules

October 21, 2019

Shares in the NASDAQ-listed Russian tech giant Yandex have jumped higher on reports Russia will soften proposals to limit foreign ownership of strategically important tech firms. The government is now considering placing a 50%-minus-one cap on the number of shares that can be held by non-Russian investors — up from the 20% limit proposed in a draft …

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Blockchain-based crowdfunding platform prepares for launch as Russian legislation clarifies

October 21, 2019

Earlier this month Da Vinci Capital – a major EBRD-backed and PE firm focusing on Russia and neighboring countries – announced an investment of 100 million rubles ($1.57 million at the current exchange rate) in BitRussia. BitRussia presents itself as an international blockchain-based crowdfunding platform. It aims to put together projects and investors using distributed ledgers, asset …

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Finance heads call for stronger cybercrime punishments

October 14, 2019

Russia’s largest bank and its financial regulator last week called for tougher penalties to be put in place against cybercrime. Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina and Sberbank CEO German Gref highlighted how criminal responsibility in Russia for some cyber crimes is softer than in the United States, while for others it is completely …

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Yandex shares plummet as Russia considers limits on foreign ownership

October 11, 2019

Shares in Russian tech giant Yandex have plummeted after reports the Kremlin is backing plans to limit the stakes of foreign owners in Russian “online information resources.” Yandex shares fell by 17% in the first minutes of trading on the Nasdaq exchange in New York on Friday, wiping more than $1 billion from the company’s …

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Russia regulates digital rights, advances other crypto-related bills

October 10, 2019

On Oct. 1, the law “On Digital Rights” entered into force. It establishes the basic legal definition of rights in the digital realm and determines their status under the country’s civil rights law. “Digital right” in this context is a new legal term, the scope of which can be interpreted to include tokens such as …

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Russian authorities bet on new equipment to enforce ban on Telegram

September 16, 2019

In the Siberian region of Tyumen, mobile operators are about to test special equipment to enforce the authorities’ ban on Telegram. As reported by Reuters, cited by the Russian media, this equipment has been provided by Roskomnadzor, the state telecom and Internet regulator.  The tests are to be conducted this month in real conditions, the …

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Global air ticket booking systems required to comply with Russian personal data localization law by 2021

August 16, 2019

Starting from October 31, 2021, the personal data of Russian citizens who book domestic flight tickets will have to be stored on servers located physically on Russian soil. This new requirement stems from a decree signed in late July by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in application of a 2014 law on personal data storage in …

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Behind the Kremlin’s new offensive against the Internet economy

August 14, 2019

In recent months, Russian authorities took a variety of measures targeting the Internet economy, presenting them as efforts to combat terrorism or restore the country’s digital sovereignty. However, behind these initiatives lies “a union of bureaucrats and security agents, the business aspirations of state capitalists, and the Russian authorities’ desire to control the Internet,” writes …

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Russian military puts soldiers in jail for using smartphones and social media

August 7, 2019

Since March 2019, Russian military service members have been banned from using smartphones and posting photos taken on the job to social media. The new regulations were proposed in September of 2018, and Russia’s State Duma and Federation Council approved them the following February. After the new law received President Vladimir Putin’s approval as well …

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A new blow to investors’ confidence: Russian draft bill targets foreign ownership of Internet resources

September 2, 2019

This past Friday Russian lawmaker Anton Gorelkin submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, a bill targeting “significant [online] information resources” with the capacity of “collecting information on [Russian] users.”   Should their foreign ownership exceed 20%, such “information resources” will not be allowed to conduct advertising activities in Russia – an implicit way …

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