After Roskomnadzor forcibly included WhatsApp in the register of information dissemination organizers (ORI) last week, some deputies admitted in comments to the media the possibility of blocking the messenger. According to the deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council, Artyom Sheikin, this could well happen in 2025 if the messenger’s management does not comply with the country’s legislation.
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“If the messenger does not fulfill certain requirements and obligations, the likelihood of blocking may increase. The development of the situation with WhatsApp in Russia in 2025 will depend on the position of the messenger’s management on the issue of storing information about users and correspondence and providing it at the request of the FSB,” — Sheikin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Foreign companies must understand the need to comply with Russian legislation, violation of which entails a ban on working in the country, the official noted.
“Obligations to comply with the requirements of the law fall on the messenger, which must organize the storage on the territory of Russia of information about the facts of reception, transmission, delivery of voice information, written text, images, sounds or other electronic messages of users, as well as provide this information to authorized government bodies carrying out operational-search activities or ensuring the security of the Russian Federation,” – summed up Artyom Sheikin.
In turn, the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Sergei Boyarsky told a TASS correspondent that speculation in the media about the possible blocking of the WhatsApp messenger are nothing more than rumors.
“These are rumors, we cannot comment on them. At the moment, there is no additional information except that the service has been added to the register of information dissemination organizers,” he noted.
According to the Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection”, the organizer of the dissemination of information on the Internet is obliged to notify the RKN about the beginning of its activities, and also store on the territory of the Russian Federation data on the facts of reception, transmission, delivery and/or processing of voice information, written text , images, sounds, videos or other electronic communications from users, and information about those users for one year. Internet user messages themselves must be stored for up to six months.
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