The relevant amendment has already received preliminary approval.
The State Duma is considering the possibility of introducing mandatory identification for owners of popular Telegram channels. The corresponding amendment, developed by the Information Policy Committee, has already been approved and is being prepared for the second reading.
The document, which amends the law “On Advertising”, stipulates that authors of Telegram channels with an audience of more than 10 thousand subscribers will be required to provide Roskomnadzor with information that allows them to be identified. The procedure for providing this data will be determined by the government.
As explained by the head of the committee, Alexander Khinshtein, blocking anonymous channels is not planned. However, they will be banned from placing advertisements and reposting their publications by other channels.
Roskomnadzor will maintain a register of Telegram channels that have provided the necessary information. Only channels included in this register will be able to legally place advertising. The social network will mark them in a special way.
Roskomnadzor emphasized that this measure is aimed at increasing the responsibility of owners of popular Telegram channels for the information they disseminate. The agency noted that today online platforms often act as media outlets for Russians, so it is important that information about the authors of publications is known.
Earlier, there was discussion of extending these requirements to bloggers with an audience of more than 1,000 people, but in the end the limit was increased. Roskomnadzor reminded that, according to the law, information distributed without the use of mass media must contain reliable information about its author or distributor, sufficient for their identification.
