On July 14, 2022, the Russian President signed Federal Law No.259-FZ amending the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation. The amendments toughen liability for violating the Federal Law “On the activities of foreign persons on the Internet telecommunications network on the territory of the Russian Federation” dated July 01, 2021, also known as the law “on landing” foreign IT companies. 

Here are the most crucial amendments with respect to foreign entities carrying out activities on the Internet:

• New grounds for holding liable for an administrative offenseare introduced with respect to foreign entities carrying out activities on the Internet in Russia:
  • Activities without installing a counter of the number of web site visitors are punishable by a fine comprising from RUB 500,000 to 1 million;
  • Activities without posting on the web site a contact form for individual inquiries, without registering a personal account on the Roskomnadzor web site or without opening a branch / representative office / separate legal entity are punishable by a fine for legal entities comprising from 1/15 to 1/10 of the revenue received for the calendar year preceding the breach, but no less than RUB 6 million, and a repeated breach leads to higher fines comprising from 1/10 to 1/5 of the revenue received for the calendar year preceding the breach, but no less than RUB 10 million;
  • Non-compliance of a foreign entity with Roskomnadzor decisions prohibiting the use of Internet resources for collecting personal data of Russian citizens is punishable by a fine comprising from RUB 1.5 million to 6 million, and a repeated breach leads to a fine from RUB 6 million to 18 million;
  • Non-submission of information (or submission of knowingly false information) required by Roskomnadzor for keeping the list of foreign entities carrying out activities on the Internet in Russia is punishable by a fine for legal entities comprising from RUB 300,000 to 700,000.
• New grounds for holding liable for an administrative offense under advertising laws are introduced:
  • Distribution by any legal entity of advertisements about a foreign entity that has breached the landing law, and whose advertisements are prohibited by Roskomnadzor, leads to a fine comprising from RUB 500,000 to 3 million;
  • Distribution by a foreign entity that has breached the landing law, and whose advertisements are prohibited by Roskomnadzor, of advertisements about itself and its resource leads to a fine comprising from RUB 3 million to 6 million;
  • Distribution by third parties of their advertisements on a resource of a foreign entity that has breached the landing law, and whose advertisements are prohibited by Roskomnadzor, leads to a fine comprising from RUB 500,000 to 3 million;
  • Distribution by a foreign entity that has breached the landing law, of advertisements on its resource, if such is prohibited by Roskomnadzor, leads to administrative liability in the amount from RUB 3 million to 6 million.

In addition, the following amendments are worth noting:

• The maximum amount of the fine for non-fulfillment by a legal entity being a telecom operator of its obligation to restrict (or restore) access to information due to a Roskomnadzor decision is increased, and now could reach RUB 4 million.

• New grounds for holding a search engine operator liable for an administrative offense, namely, non-compliance with the Roskomnadzor requirements:
  • Failure by a legal entity being a search engine operator to inform users that an information resource listed in the search results breaches Russian laws is punishable by a fine comprising from RUB 1 million to 5 million;
  • Non-fulfillment by a search engine operator of its obligation to cease listing an information resource in the search results is also punishable by a fine comprising from RUB 1.5 million to 5 million;
  • Repeated violation of the said requirements leads to a fine comprising from RUB 3 million to 10 million.
• Liability is introduced for a hosting provider not submitting information (or submitting knowingly false information) to Roskomnadzor to enable identification of a foreign entity being the owner of a resource in the form of a fine comprising from RUB 50,000 to 300,000.
• Fines for violation of the requirements for installation of technical means to counter threats to the stability, security and integrity of the Internet on the territory of the Russian Federation are increased:
  • Fine for officials comprises from RUB 30,000 to 50,000, for individual entrepreneurs from RUB 50,000 to 100,000, for companies from RUB 500,000 to 1 million.
  • Repeated violation by officials leads to a fine from RUB 100,000 to 200,000, by individual entrepreneurs from RUB 200,000 to 500,000, by legal entities from RUB 3 million to 5 million.
• Liability is introduced for an operator violating requirements for traffic transmission through technical means intended for elimination of the said threats to the Internet. Fines for such breach are similar to updated fines for violation of the requirements for installation of such technical means.

Provisions of the federal law will take effect starting July 14, 2023, except for provisions on liability for violation of the requirements for installation of technical means to counter threats to the stability and violation of the requirements for traffic transmission through such technical means (new Article 13.42.1 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation), which will take effect starting January 01, 2023.