Law on the legal regulation of the activities of social networks. On the draft law “On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks

Sargis Darbinyan

Lawyer of the public organization Roskomsvoboda, managing partner of the Center for Digital Rights.

What happened?

State Duma deputies will discuss the bill in the near future On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection”., providing for amendments to the law “On information, information technology and on the protection of information. The main changes concern the work of social networks.

The main points are:

Social networks should have their representation on the territory of Russia. And if they don't, then create it.
Social media operators must necessarily identify their users.
Within 24 hours, the social network must remove, at the request of users, information for the dissemination of which criminal or administrative liability is provided. For example, propagandizing war, inciting national hatred and enmity, unreliable and discrediting honor, dignity and reputation. This list is open. Given the current unpredictable practice, it is impossible to say unequivocally what exactly these grounds will be.
Also, social network operators are responsible for removing fake news at the request of Roskomnadzor.

How will the new bill change how social networks work?

The function of the court will be imposed on the operators of social networks. The company will have to hire thousands of moderators and lawyers. They will have to deal with the evaluation of content and the study of evidence of its illegality, claims and other things. This is very serious work.

To minimize the risk, Russian services and social networks will most likely delete any suspicious information. This will increase the level of self-censorship within the platforms themselves.

And how will all this affect users?

In recent years a large number of users have already been prosecuted not only for their own records, but also for .

Any publications on sensitive topics (religion, LGBT, Ukraine, Syria) may lead to the initiation of a criminal or administrative case. As it was, for example, with the demonstration of Nazi symbols in the background of grandfather's military photos or the expressive posts of the late blogger Nosik.

Who will be hit by the new rules?

First of all, on Russian platforms. The law will affect both YouTube and any major media where commenting is possible. But precisely Russian companies will be forced to fulfill all, even the most absurd requirements. They will be less competitive and attractive to users.

As a result, this may lead to the fact that many foreign social networks and services will close their work in Russia. Ensuring activities in accordance with Russian law can be more expensive than the company's profit from working in Runet.

One of the requirements for social networks is to know your users. How will it be done technically?

For example, through mandatory registration with mobile phone. From June 1 operators cellular communication, most likely, will begin to disable unidentified SIM card users. This is another step in the announced state policy to deanonymize all Internet users.

How can you fight fake news?

There is no specific body in the bill that could determine whether or not. Powers are spread over different executive authorities. They, apparently, will determine the reliability of information according to their own internal and often non-transparent procedure.

What will it look like in practice? For example, if the Ministry of Emergency Situations said that 10 people died in a fire, no one can write more or less. Even if there is reason for doubt.

What punishment awaits the social network for violations?

The first sanction for breaking the law is a fine of 50 million rubles. In the future, they are threatened with restriction of access to the service throughout the country - blocking at the level of telecom operators.

Are there similar laws abroad?

Germany recently passed a law obliging social networks to remove some of the information relating to the justification of Nazism. But there requirements are quite specific.

In general, the trend regarding the control of private communications exists in many countries. However, such a scope of regulation has never been seen before. The new bill of our deputies showed that Russia is ahead of the rest in terms of destroying freedom on the Internet.

What happens if the bill is passed anyway?

Since, in my opinion, the bill violates the human rights and freedoms provided for by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and a number of international conventions, after its entry into force a large number of litigations and disputes will be initiated. The issue will reach international instances, which will have to assess the provisions of the law. But whether it will help is a big question.

In addition, from the point of view of respecting human rights to privacy in the digital age, the bill is contrary to the new European data processing regulation GDPR. The bill's provisions are in direct conflict with this directive. This means that Russian companies will be fined by the European regulator for violating the rules for processing data of European citizens.

To sum up, this is the strongest blow to freedom of speech and freedom of dissemination of information.

What do other experts think?

It is also alarming that the only subject that can make a statement about the removal of some information will be another user. To figure out whether he is really right or just decided to joke or annoy someone, the operator of the social network needs in just a day! How many people should be in the staff of a social network operator so that they can accept and process such a mass of applications? And there will be a lot of them: VKontakte has more than 95 million registered users, and there are more than two billion of them.

So far there are more questions than answers. The law clearly does not correspond to reality. It will be either difficult or technically impossible to fulfill its requirements in practice.

Resonant terrorist acts are not in vain. The Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region has developed and is already submitting to the State Duma a draft law on social networks. All users social networks forced to provide their full personal data. And no anonymous and pseudonyms! The security forces of the regime should be able to instantly come to a blogger who violates the laws. For example, reporting on an uncoordinated action.

The Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region has developed a bill "On legal regulation activities of social networks. It involves a strict procedure for the admission and identification of users who will be required to create pages only under their real name. When registering, you will have to provide passport data. Children under the age of 14 will not be allowed to use social networks at all. Submission of the draft to the State Duma is scheduled for April 5.

According to the draft law “On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks and on amendments to certain legislative acts” (its text is at the disposal of Izvestia), only a person who has reached the age of 14 can be a user of a social network. When registering, the owner of the service is obliged to check the passport data of Russian and foreign citizens. For violation of this rule, the legal entity - the owner of the site faces a fine of 100 thousand to 300 thousand rubles. If the user did not report a change in data or deliberately provided false information, he faces a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 rubles.

You can create only one page and only under your real name and surname, otherwise a fine will follow: the owner of the site - up to 300 thousand rubles, the user - up to 5 thousand. Users under the age of 18 are prohibited from joining communities where information prohibited for children is posted . Otherwise, parents will have to pay a fine of up to 2 thousand rubles. Selling any goods to minors through social networks will also be punishable by law. In addition, the document assumes a ban on advertising "of an occult-magical nature and smoking mixtures."

It is forbidden to inform citizens about unauthorized meetings and rallies, disseminate information about uncoordinated events and publish correspondence with other users without their consent.

It is forbidden to distribute any information (text, photo, video) that promotes national and other intolerance, the use of alcohol and tobacco products, non-traditional sexual relations, etc. - if the message is not accompanied by a "clear condemnation of these materials"...

One of the authors of the document, Vladimir Petrov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, explained that the law should come into force on January 1, 2018. Social networks will have time to bring user agreements into line with it, remove those who are not yet 14 years old, and collect passport data from the rest in order to change account names if necessary.

Now the situation is difficult: social networks are multimillion-dollar virtual societies that affect the real life of the country. The relevance of the document is confirmed by recent high-profile events - from unauthorized political speeches to a terrorist threat, - Vladimir Petrov explained. - For the sake of public safety, it is necessary to introduce the principle of universal verification of users, this can only be done from the moment a citizen receives a passport - from the age of 14. No one is trying to introduce censorship or restrict freedom of speech. Verification and strict control over the authenticity of names will only increase the price of your own opinion and virtual communication...

A similar trend is noticeable in Western social networks - their administrations are interested in protecting users from negative and harmful information. They strive to provide maximum personal information. I am sure that many countries will follow this path, - said Vladimir Petrov...

Admittedly, the Internet has already ceased to be a fun toy where people send funny pictures about cats,” State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov told Izvestia. - This is a virtual reflection of the state. Attackers often use the Internet and social networks for their own purposes - the good soil allows. The less irresponsible anonymity, the better - you can not give this area at the mercy of molesters, terrorists and criminals. If the document is submitted for consideration by the State Duma, then, I think, with a number of amendments and after extensive discussion with the industry, it has a high chance of approval by the chamber ...

Another initiative from the bill is a complete ban on the use of social networks during working hours for public sector employees. The explanatory note states that social networks have “enslaved office workers”: the loss of working time is huge, and employers cannot fight it.

In accordance with the document, registration in social networks of Russians under 14 years old is proposed to be completely banned, and the possibility of using social networks by other minors is to be limited.

State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov submitted to the Parliament a draft law "On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks", according to which it is proposed to completely "prohibit the use of social networks by persons under the age of 14."

According to the developers of the bill signed by Milonov, the introduction of the ban will help to cope with the "pernicious influence" of "difficult" teenagers and children from dysfunctional families on their peers, as well as reduce the number of teenage suicides.

According to the document published in the database of the State Duma bills, the adoption of the new law will entail a change in the rules for registration in social networks. The owner of the network will be required to ask the new user for a passport and establish his real name and surname (full name), as well as age. It is prohibited to register those who have not submitted their data, as well as those who have not yet turned 14 years old, under the threat of a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles.

The same penalty threatens the owners of social networks for providing one user with the opportunity to create several pages on the same network. Yes, the bill also prohibits having several pages. Moreover, their presence can be punishable: a user who has opened more than one account is proposed to be fined 3-5 thousand rubles. The same penalty is provided for providing incorrect full name and information about your age during registration.

The bill provides for age restrictions not only for those who have not yet turned 14, but also for other minors. The former, as indicated above, are generally prohibited from registering on social networks, while the latter are prohibited from “taking part in the activities of communities in which information is disseminated,” which is prohibited by law from distribution among children.

According to the law, information prohibited for dissemination among children includes, among other things, obscene language and information that “forms disrespect for parents and (or) other family members.” Given the active use of obscene language on social networks, minors will not be able to legally register in any community at all. Parents of violators of the ban face a fine of 1.5-2 thousand rubles.

The bill proposed by Milonov prohibits even adults from using social networks to “organize unsanctioned meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches or picketing,” including in the form of disseminating information about the upcoming holding of such actions.

Additionally, the bill proposes to introduce a ban on the use of social networks during working hours for employees of budgetary organizations and persons in the civil civil service of the Russian Federation.

RBC's source in the State Duma said that "Milonov's initiative will most likely not receive support." According to a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Yevgeny Revenko, the introduction of the bill was not agreed upon either with the committee or with the party faction " United Russia”, which includes both Milonov and Revenko himself.

“I consider this initiative harmful, it will only alienate young people from us. It is necessary not to prohibit more, but to go to social networks and talk,” Revenko explained, recalling that the current legislation has enough restrictions on propaganda on social networks of terrorism, extremism, drug addiction and other illegal actions.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Kremlin has not yet seen the bill.

“We have not seen the essence of this bill, but only read in the media those provisions that may be contained in it, which we are not sure about. Those provisions that are discussed in the media are, of course, not very realistic. It is hardly necessary to take any position here, ”Peskov said.

Presidential Internet Adviser German Klimenko, in an interview with RBC, said that before submitting such a bill to the State Duma and “pursuing reputational pluses,” Milonov needed to consult with the IT industry.

“Firstly, where will children under 14 go? They will immediately go to foreign social networks. Secondly, with a literal reading of Milonov's proposal, we are losing users on VKontakte from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. This is incomparable with the possible pluses, ”Klymenko believes.

According to the adviser, he is ready to personally participate in the drafting of the bill. “We will either bring the bill into a form worthy for the development of the Runet, or we will offer our own version,” the presidential adviser added.

On Monday, April 10, VTsIOM that almost two-thirds of Russians (62%) support the adoption of a law banning the use of social networks for children under the age of 14. At the same time, among young people aged 18-24, 67% support the adoption of such a law.

Not so long ago, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov proposed the adoption of a new bill regulating access to Internet resources intended for communication. The Social Media Law in 2019 provides for certain restrictions for minors.

Today, Russian legislation does not provide for separate projects that would regulate the activities of social networks. However, parliamentarians have long been interested in the problem. According to people's representatives, communication on the Internet does not have the best effect on the development of children.

The bill establishing the legal basis for the activities of some resources was proposed by Vitaly Milonov, as well as parliamentarians from the Leningrad Region.

The essence of the project is to protect children from the bad influence of social networks. First of all, we are talking about the prohibition of access and restriction of registration for minors.

The deputies believe that this will reduce the influence of "difficult" teenagers on their peers from prosperous families. With this, they plan to reduce the number of juvenile crimes.

Changes proposed by deputies

The bill submitted for consideration to the State Duma is called "On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks." The main thing that the developers offer is a ban on the use of social resources by children under 14 years old.

The document states that it is necessary to completely deprive teenagers of the opportunity to register in any social networks.

Therefore, it is proposed to keep records according to passport data. If a person who wants to register does not provide correct information, the resource management must refuse him. In addition, for false information during registration, deputies propose to fine:

the violators themselves in the amount of 3 to 5 thousand rubles;
resource management for 300 thousand rubles, if registration nevertheless occurred with false information.

Given the need to enter reliable passport information, users will not be able to create more than 1 account. Several pages in social networks registered for one person will indicate that the management of the resource has violated the rules for providing information, and will be fined.

As for age restrictions, parliamentarians are categorical - under 14 years old, a child should not have the right to access social networks under any circumstances. Upon reaching the age limit, children will be allowed to register, but they will be required to follow a number of rules:

minors will be banned from joining communities where entries are made using obscene language;
you will not be allowed to join groups if they promote disrespectful attitude towards parents or family.

The use of swearing on social networks threatens teenagers with the fact that they will not be able to join any community. In addition, the parents of violators will be held administratively liable. They will have to pay a fine of 1.5 to 2 thousand rubles.

Minors will not be allowed to disseminate information about any unauthorized events with mass participation of people. According to the current law, it is forbidden to use social networks for the purpose of organizing such meetings.

Along with the ban on access for children under 14, parliamentarians propose limiting the use of social networks during working hours. This is not about all the inhabitants of Russia, but only about employees of the public sector and civil service.

How will registration take place under the bill

The resource management must ensure that the correct passport details are provided before approving the application. If the user is under the age of 14, registration will be denied.

The deputies believe that the new standards will allow to control the activities of social networks and reduce juvenile delinquency and mortality.

What do the State Duma think about the proposed bill

The official text of the new law was submitted to the people's deputies for consideration at the beginning of 2017. The developers expected that it would come into force as early as January 1, 2019. However, parliamentarians have not yet been able to reach a consensus on the need to approve the bill and its expediency.

First of all, there are concerns that representatives of the IT industry will be against this innovation, so they need to be consulted.

In addition, such projects are not accepted in one day. Their implementation requires careful preparation. It is necessary to consider how the verification of passport data will be carried out. In this case, the management of social networks should be given access to some personal information.

Some deputies express concern that the bill will cause too much public outcry, as it will only alienate young people.

Parliamentarians believe that Russian legislation already provides for quite a lot of rules that should protect minors from the bad influence of social networks. There are prohibitions on propaganda of terrorism, drug addiction and other actions that can harm the inhabitants of the country.

People's deputies agree that the introduction of new bans will not solve the problems of youth. First of all, it is necessary to draw the attention of parents to what is happening with teenagers.

It is the lack of understanding that often leads to conflicts and tragedies. In addition, in the absence of access to the social network, children can use their free time in a bad way.

Since the proposals of the developers of the bill look too categorical for many deputies, there is no talk of its possible implementation yet. The activity of Internet resources today is regulated by Federal Law 436 "On the protection of children from information that is harmful to their health and development." You can download the text of the law from the following link.

The Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region has developed a draft law "On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks." According to Izvestia, it implies a strict procedure for admitting and identifying users who will be required to create pages only under their real name. When registering, you will have to provide passport data. Children under the age of 14 will not be allowed to use social networks at all. Submission of the draft to the State Duma is scheduled for today, April 5.

According to the bill, only those who have reached the age of 14 can be users of the social network. When registering, the owner of the service is obliged to check the passport data of citizens. For violation of this rule, the site owner faces a fine of 100 to 300 thousand rubles. If the user did not report a change in data or deliberately provided false information, he faces a fine of 1 to 3 thousand rubles.

Also, according to the document, it is forbidden to inform citizens about unauthorized rallies and meetings. The dissemination of information about such events will also be banned. And also you can not publish correspondence with other users without their consent.

You can not distribute any information (text, photo, video) that promotes national and other intolerance, the use of alcohol and tobacco products, non-traditional sexual relations, and so on - if the message is not accompanied by a "clear condemnation of these materials," Izvestia continues.

Now the situation is difficult: social networks are multimillion-dollar virtual societies that affect the real life of the country. The relevance of the document is confirmed by recent high-profile events - from unauthorized political speeches to terrorist threats. For the sake of public safety, it is necessary to introduce the principle of universal verification of users, this can only be done from the moment a citizen receives a passport - from the age of 14. No one is trying to introduce censorship or restrict freedom of speech. Verification and strict control over the authenticity of names will only increase the price of one's own opinion and virtual communication, - the deputy explained.

In addition, according to Vladimir Petrov, linking an account to a passport will help solve the problem of manipulating public opinion online and destroy all kinds of “communities of trolls” and pranksters.

The explanatory note to the bill states that the publication of photos and videos with the use of alcohol and illegal substances, "in the opinion of a teenager, makes him more authoritative in the eyes of others." The sensational case of Diana Shurygina, who suffered from her drunken peers, shows what consequences this can lead to.

There are also reports of teenagers committing suicide after joining online communities.

I must admit: the Internet has already ceased to be a funny toy, where they send funny pictures about cats. This is a virtual reflection of the state. Attackers often use the Internet and social networks for their own purposes - the good soil allows. The less irresponsible anonymity, the better - you can not give this area at the mercy of molesters, terrorists and criminals. If the document is submitted for consideration by the State Duma, then, I think, with a number of amendments and after extensive discussion with the industry, it has a high chance of approval by the chamber, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov told Izvestia.

Presidential adviser German Klymenko said that the bill is still "extremely crude."

I am not a lawyer, but the definition of a social network looks very vague and all resources with communication between registered visitors fall under it. But what to do with the unregistered? Registering under your own name without pseudonyms also raises many questions. It seems to me that it would make sense to discuss the draft law with the industry in advance. There are enough platforms with professional and legal competencies: the Internet Development Institute, the Russian Association for Electronic Communications, the Regional Public Center for Internet Technologies. Otherwise, we can get the effect of the “Yarovaya package” when, due to inaccurately formulated requirements for the volume of traffic storage, an information storm began, - German Klimenko commented.

Director of external communications Rambler & Co (owns the Livejournal blog platform) Matvey Alekseev said that there is no need for such a bill.

Now everything is well regulated. We have SORM (a system of operational-search activities in telecommunications), we have the Criminal and Civil Codes. If the draft becomes law, it will be a blow to domestic projects and social networks. At the same time, the document does not contain restrictions on the use of foreign social networks and blog platforms, - said Matvey Alekseev.

The adoption of the bill may hit the business, he said. Many companies use social media to promote their products and services.