Vadim Subbotin, RKN: blocking sites because of the Law “On Landing” – the last measure 
Deputy Head of Roskomadim Subbotin spoke about the consequences in Russia for foreign Internet companies that will not have time to open their representative offices in the Russian Federation before January 1, 2022, as required by the Law on Landing. According to Subbotin, blocking and slowing down sites is the last measure that the regulator does not want to apply. He spoke about this in an interview with Interfax.
“If companies (foreign IT companies – approx.” Lenta.ru “) will not have time to open a representative office in our country on time, this does not mean that we will immediately begin to take any measures against them. This means that from January 1, we will think about adopting them, ”Subbotin explained. As the deputy head of the department noted, the decisive factor in this case will be a dialogue with an Internet organization. According to him, if RKN understands that the company is working to open an authorized representative office in Russia, then the regulator will be ready to support the organization.
Subbotin also assessed the likelihood of an escalation of the situation with Internet companies in connection with the Law on Landing. The representative of the regulator noted that the law provides the RKN with a wide range of mechanisms to compel organizations to comply with Russian legislation. However, restricting access to services and slowing them down, as Subbotin explained, are not priority measures. “Slowing down and blocking is what we basically don’t want to use, this is the last measure when other arguments no longer work,” said the deputy head of Roskomnadzor.
Earlier, Roskomnadzor disclosed a list of companies obliged to open their representative offices in Russia in connection with the Law on Landing. The register includes Google, Meta, Twitter, Tiktok, Telegram and others.
The Law “On the Landing of Foreign IT Companies” was adopted on July 1, 2021. It obliges online platforms, whose daily audience is more than 500 thousand users in Russia, to open their official representative offices in the Russian Federation. The law comes into force on January 1, 2022. For non-compliance with its requirements, companies face a number of restrictions, from a ban on the distribution of advertising about themselves to a complete blocking.