Media: authorities to require major foreign IT firms to open offices in Russia

The Russian government plans to create a ‘digital residency’ system for foreign IT companies. The plan envisages mandatory registration of representations or legal entities of such firms on Russia’s territory and the levying of taxes.

As reported by «Ъ», citing plans to support the IT sector, the requirement for mandatory registration is planned in a separate bill. It is expected that the new rules will apply to companies with an audience of more than 100–500 thousand users in Russia.

“Such a measure is necessary to ensure equal application of laws to foreign and domestic companies operating in Russia,” said Alexander Zhuravlev, chair of the Commission on Legal Support for the Digital Economy at the Moscow branch of the Association of Lawyers of Russia.

Experts say that Google, Facebook, Booking, Amazon and other services could be covered by the registration requirements.

A directive to develop additional requirements for foreign technology companies operating in Russia, including obligations to open representative offices of such companies in the Russian Federation, was issued by President Vladimir Putin.

Experts noted that the initiative could also affect the blocking of social networks.

Experts explained how the Russian law on self-censorship of social networks would work

Subscribe to ForkLog’s news on Telegram: ForkLog Feed — the full news feed, ForkLog — the most important news and polls.