State Duma deputies adopted in the first reading a bill that somewhat changes the rules for the work of social networks. The document has passed the first reading, the second and third are coming. But, most likely, it will be accepted.
We will tell you what will change for ordinary users after the law comes into force.
What is the essence of the bill?
The main message is this: the law should protect users from disinformation on the Internet. This includes fake news.
The document also provides for the introduction of user identification in social networks by mobile phone number and moderation of visitors' posts. In fact, this will prevent you from using social networks anonymously, since SIM cards are sold with a passport.
The text of the bill says: "Prevent the use of the public network for the purpose of committing criminal offenses, disclosure of information constituting state or other secrets specially protected by law, dissemination of materials containing public calls for terrorist activities or publicly justifying terrorism, and other extremist materials, and also materials promoting pornography, the cult of violence and cruelty, and materials containing obscene language. "
What is a large network?
According to the text of the draft law, a large public network is one, access to which within a day is more than one hundred thousand Internet users.
What else are the owners of the public network obliged to do?
They must create a representative office of the owner of the public network on the territory of the Russian Federation. And they must also comply with the obligations of the organizer of the dissemination of information on the Internet, provided for in Article 101 of this Federal Law.
It is also necessary to "restrict access to or remove, at the request of a user of a public network, information disseminated in it, which is clearly aimed at propaganda of war, incitement of national, racial or religious hatred and enmity, and other information for the dissemination of which criminal or administrative liability is provided, within 24 hours from the moment of receipt of the said application, "the document says.
What happens if Roskomnadzor or other agencies notice violations?
You will need to delete the post.
"The federal executive body exercising control and supervision functions in the field of mass media, mass communications, information technology and communications, within 24 hours from the moment of their receipt, considers them and sends the owner of the public network an order to immediately stop the dissemination of information specified in part 10 of this article ", - says the text of the bill.
The punishment is quite severe: a fine of up to 50 million rubles. In case of repeated violations, the sites are threatened with blocking.
If the owner of the public network fails to comply with the requirement specified in part 11 of this article, the federal executive body exercising control and supervision functions in the field of mass media, mass communications, information technology and communications shall restrict access to the information specified in this requirement.
In accordance with the document, it is proposed to completely prohibit registration in social networks of Russians under the age of 14, and to restrict the possibilities of using social networks by other minors.
State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov submitted to the parliament a draft law "On the legal regulation of social networks," according to which it is proposed to completely "prohibit the use of social networks for persons under the age of 14".
According to the developers of the bill, which is signed by Milonov, the introduction of the ban will help to cope with the "pernicious influence" of "difficult" teenagers and children from disadvantaged families on their peers, as well as reduce the number of teenage suicides.
According to the document published in the State Duma's database of draft laws, the adoption of the new law will entail a change in the rules for registration in social networks. The network owner will be obliged to demand a passport from the new user 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 fine 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 the provision of incorrect full name and information about your age during registration.
Age restrictions are stipulated by the bill 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 in 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 being disseminated among children.
According to the law, information prohibited for dissemination among children includes, among other things, obscene language and information that “creates 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. The parents of those who violate the ban face a fine of 1.5-2 thousand rubles.
Milonov's proposed bill prohibits even adults from using social networks to “organize unauthorized meetings, rallies, demonstrations, processions or pickets,” 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 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 with either the committee or the faction of the United Russia party, which includes both Milonov and Revenko himself.
“I consider this initiative harmful, it will only alienate the youth 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 the propaganda of terrorism, extremism, drug addiction and other illegal actions in social networks.
Press Secretary of the Russian President 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 the provisions that it may contain, which we are not sure of. The provisions that are discussed in the media are, of course, not very realistic. It is hardly necessary to take any position here, ”Peskov said.
The presidential advisor on the Internet, German Klimenko, in an interview with RBC said that before submitting such a bill to the State Duma and “chasing reputation pluses,” Milonov needed to consult with the IT industry.
“First, where will children under 14 go? They will immediately go to foreign social networks. Secondly, if you literally read Milonov's proposal, we lose users on VKontakte from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. This is incomparable with the possible advantages, ”Klimenko said.
According to the adviser, he is ready to personally participate in the preparation of the bill. “We will either bring the bill into a form worthy for the development of Runet, or we will offer our own version,” added the presidential adviser.
On Monday, April 10, VTsIOM, 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. Moreover, among young people aged 18-24, 67% support the adoption of such a law.
Vitaly Milonov's bill (a United Russia deputy is listed as the sole author) proposes to prohibit suckers under 14 years of age from using social networks, while the rest requires them to register there only under their real name and surname, indicating their passport details. In addition, it is proposed to establish rules for communication and publication of multimedia in social networks. According to Milonov, such restrictions will help punish distributors of illegal content, protect users from fraudsters, instigators of child suicide and solve the problem of “fake pages”. The Kremlin has already called it "unlikely" that the Duma will take such odious measures. The "harmfulness" of the wording of Milonov's law was also noticed in the General Council of United Russia itself. Internet experts and human rights activists interviewed by Novaya Gazeta also doubted that the draft law in this form has any chances.
Why is Vitaly Milonov's bill needed: Milonov's version
Social networks have an unclear legal status, said the initiator of the law. This leads to "tragedies": Milonov cites as an example, who was convicted of reposting someone else's video of child abuse in a children's camp (now Chudnovets).
To regulate social networks, the deputy proposes to create an "interdepartmental coordinating body to control the implementation of activities in social networks", where they will monitor compliance with the rules in social networks and choose ways to control them.
Milonov proposes to solve most of the problems either through deanonymization of the social network user up to the indication of the passport data at the entrance (then the user who violated the law can be easily brought to justice), or through prohibitive measures (no possibility - no problem), or through the most general formulations (“follow the law "," Do not violate the law ", etc.).
Let's take a closer look.
Why is there a version that this law is an initiative "against Navalny"?
The bill contains a separate section dedicated to the organization of unauthorized rallies through social networks. Milonov proposes to toughen administrative responsibility for this. Organizations calling on people on social networks to go to an unauthorized rally "encroach on undermining the statehood and sovereignty of the country," the document on the State Duma website says.
The block of the bill, which refers to the responsibility for organizing unauthorized rallies, directly refers to the recent mass actions against corruption on March 26, the organization of which took place mainly through the social network Vkontakte. The protests were triggered by the authorities' lack of response to the popular anti-corruption investigation by the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation. In many regions, supporters of the politician acted as organizers of street actions. The FBK investigation itself was disseminated by Navalny through another social network - Youtube - and was a huge success: to date, the 50-minute film "He's Not Dimon for You" has already been seen over 18 million times.
As an official response to the FBK investigation, the authorities put forward a statement that “citizens were found for a certain amount” for protest actions. In an explanatory note to his bill, Milonov will add only one clarification to this. Rate the grace: " THROUGH SOCIALfind citizens for a certain amount ... ", which leads to the conclusion about the terrible danger of social networks.
Why is it convenient to call this law a fight against "death groups"?
“Death groups” (the name is taken from the eponymous Galina Mursalieva in “Novaya Gazeta”), that is, closed communities for adolescents “VKontakte”, whose members are forced to perform tasks with a suicidal bias, are directly mentioned in the bill. Milonov believes that the safety of children on the Internet today is not guaranteed by anything, social networks for children "turn into a drug", teenagers are easy to manipulate.
“The administrators of the“ death groups ”suppress the will of the child with their authority before him and drag him into a deadly game,” the document that got to the State Duma loftily states.
Under the pretext of protecting children from instigators to suicide, over the past year, politicians and officials at various levels have repeatedly proposed to limit freedom of information on the Russian Internet. It makes no sense to list and comment on them separately here. The priority tool that really helps a teenager to cope with thoughts of suicide is timely and professional psychological counseling. This is what the Vkontakte social network is doing by building a mechanism for automatically blocking suicidal communities, making it possible to complain about a comment calling for suicide, and connecting psychologists to a hotline, whose contacts pop up when the user mentions marked words and expressions.
Elsewhere, in the explanatory note to Milonov's bill, a proposal is mentioned to prohibit “destructive communities in social networks,” which can be interpreted more broadly than suicidal publics, but no further explanation is provided.
Trade is a "security threat". 18+!
Milonov believes that users who have not reached the age of 18 should not buy goods through social networks, as this also "threatens their safety."
Government employees are slaves of social networks. Deny!
The bill proposes to prohibit or severely restrict the rules for using social networks for public sector employees during working hours. The relevant clauses are proposed to be indicated in additional conditions to the employment contract.
Mages and Healers: Ban!
"Special attention is paid to reposts ..."
One of the few really important, but completely not spelled out initiatives in the bill. Milonov, referring to the "Chudnovets case" as a resonant case, proposes to take out of punishment users who repost (that is, who indicated the original source of the recording), if the distributed content is found to be in violation of the law.
What is not clear
Commenting rules?
The bill contains a lot of vague wording and requirements, which is very confusing. This fully applies to the paragraph on the rules of commenting, where users are required to comply with applicable law, protect their passwords and not spread personal information about third parties on social networks.
The "pernicious influence" of social networks?
The point that social networks have a "pernicious influence" on adolescents is left without explanation in the bill. As an example, only the case of Diana Shurygina is mentioned, the interest in which is associated with the "licentiousness of modern youth."
Scammers have infiltrated the charity arena. Strictly control!
For charitable activities in social networks, Milonov proposes to establish "special requirements", since scammers have learned to use a wide audience reach for their own ends. What is meant by “special requirements” is not specified.
About money: “... Will not require additional funds from the budget»
Milonov believes that the implementation of the positions of the bill he proposed will not burden the budget in any way.
Feedback from experts and stakeholders
Artem Kozlyuk
head of the Roskomsvoboda project, lawyer
"Even against the background of regressive bills on the Runet, this one stands out for its legal illiteracy."
- I hope that the bill will not be adopted in such an absurd form. Even against the background of regressive bills on the Internet space, he stands out for his legal illiteracy and lack of understanding of the main thing he is dedicated to - the functioning of social networks.
There are a number of risks in it both for users and for the business community in Russia.
Many, reading the bill, emphasize that children will not be allowed on social networks. But for this, all users must provide their personal data. This is strange, because, when interacting with each other offline, we do not show our passport data to a nearby police officer or the owner of a cafe in which we carry out our social interaction. And the deputy Milonov for some reason believes that we must introduce ourselves at the entrance. Although the right to anonymity is already a digital human right, the UN is talking about it. Each of us has the right to anonymize ourselves.
Further. The bill obliges social networks to collect and store our data. That is, we face the risk of confidential information leaks. This is despite the fact that we periodically see how massive leaks of such data occur, which then surface either on black markets or are published in the open. This also applies to government information systems and conventional services. And this will continue to happen, despite the fines and such bills.
I hope with caution and optimism that this bill will either be frozen or transformed. Although, of course, it can be transformed for the worse by adding new terms.
- My point of view is probably close to the point of view of the State Duma. What has happened now, it seems to me, is a thirst for PR. I don't really understand her. Maybe it's all the fault of Mr. Milonov's low corporate character. For example, when we introduced a bill on medicine, we first received approval from the State Duma's medical committee. I think this is important when you enter someone else's territory. Not in the sense that it is simply "alien", but in the fact that the entire bill is superficial. It shows that the people who wrote it have absolutely no idea how social networks work.
If tomorrow we receive a legal decision that networks cannot serve children under 14, then
we will face the fact that we will immediately lose the audience, which will be taken by foreign companies. Maybe Mr. Milonov bought shares in Snapchat or Facebook. I don't know, but from the outside it looks something like this.
The introduction of passport data - it sounds crazy, because the feeling that people live some kind of social past. If we enter passport data, we have a problem with the storage of personal data.
These people do not understand at all, but what are we going to do with the citizens of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus who live in our country and those who use social networks in the Russian-speaking cities of their countries and provide general social connections between network users? What should we do, disable them and kick them out?
I think it all looks wild. And, without answering these questions, it is irresponsible to submit such a bill to the Duma.
Featuring Yulia Mineeva and Konstantin Poleskov
On April 10, State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov (United Russia) submitted to the Russian parliament a draft law “On the legal regulation of the activities of social networks”. The document, in particular, prescribes the receipt of an account on the social network only after the message of the passport data of the Internet user to the site administration.
“When registering, the owner is obliged to request from the individual registering in electronic form an identity document (including a document proving the identity of a foreign citizen or stateless person in the Russian Federation) and allowing to establish the last name, first name, patronymic (if any) and the age of the said individual, ”reads the explanatory note to the bill.
“The need to provide passport data for using social networks will help solve the problem of so-called“ fake pages, ”Milonov said. - Now anyone can register under a different name, both under a fictitious one, and under the name of someone they know. On such a page, you can post photos, write messages that compromise the person who allegedly owns the page. In fact, no mechanism of responsibility for such actions is currently provided. In connection with this project, a provision is introduced on the mandatory provision of passport data by users of social networks. In addition, the draft stipulates that registration of a citizen in a social network is carried out only under his real name and surname. "
In addition, it is proposed to prohibit the use of social networks for persons under 14 years of age. In turn, teenagers from 14 to 18 years old will not be able to make online purchases. Also, the use of social networks may be prohibited in budgetary organizations, and in others it may be adjusted by an employment contract. The purpose of such measures is to combat the "Internet slavery" of office workers.
“The loss of working time is enormous, but it is very difficult for employers to fight it. The draft proposes to prohibit the use of social networks in budgetary organizations, and in relation to other legal entities, workers' access to social networks is proposed to be regulated in the additional terms of the employment contract, ”the accompanying text says.
Among other things, the bill provides for tougher administrative responsibility for organizing unauthorized rallies using Internet resources.
“It has become much easier for various organizations encroaching on undermining the statehood and sovereignty of our country to act with the advent of social networks,” Milonov points out. - On the one hand, this is the “problem of Varvara Karaulova,” when recruiters of extremist organizations banned in Russia lure young people to join their ranks through social networks. On the other hand, the organization of rallies, picketing, processions in violation of the current legislation. The organizers of such events find citizens through social networks who are ready to take part in an illegal action for a certain amount. It's pretty easy to do this on social media. In connection with this project, it is proposed to toughen administrative liability for organizing unauthorized rallies through social networks. "
Overseeing the implementation of Internet regulation will be entrusted to a special “inter-agency coordinating body” that has yet to be established.
Milonov's radical proposals did not meet with support either in the State Duma or in the Kremlin.
“The provisions that are being discussed in the media are, of course, unrealistic, so there is hardly any need to take any position here,” said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President (Kommersant).
“Taking into account the public resonance and media attention to this topic, such ideas, unfortunately, will multiply like mushrooms,” believeshead of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Leonid Levin (RIA Novosti). -The initiative itself is difficult to implement and speaks of a lack of understanding by the authors of the very essence of the Internet and the mechanisms of its work.
The MP noted that "the technical implementation of the bill ... will require significant funds from both the state and the Internet industry."
"We must not produce new laws, but increase the efficiency of the implementation of existing ones," - pthe head of the committee stressed.
“As for children, we have a law“ On the protection of children from information that is harmful to their health and development, ”the parliamentarian said. He also recalled that Internet access is currently and socarried out using the personal data of the citizen: "When purchasing a SIM card, you must provide a passport, when connecting the home Internet, an agreement is concluded between the user and the operator, when using public wi-fi points, you must go through the verification procedure."
“The implementation ... of the initiative of Deputy Milonov will throw us among the third world countries in terms of regulating the Internet and protecting the rights of citizens,” concluded the head of the State Duma committee. I believe that children and adolescents, the overwhelming majority of whom use the Internet on a daily basis, should not be limited, but should be prepared for the challenges encountered on the Internet. Parents play a key role in this, since in most cases it is they who provide their children with gadgets for using the Internet, registered on themselves. "
Deputy secretary of the United Russia council Yevgeny Revenko also criticized the bill.
« I don't think social media prohibitions are the right tool. Excessive barriers will lead to the fact that very quickly other ways of communication will be found. As a rule, measures of this kind require careful study, comprehensive discussion, including with the younger generation, ”the party’s official website quoted the politician as saying.
Internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev called Milonov's bill "senseless".
“Any transmission of information on the Internet can formally be considered a social network. In other words, everything will have to be banned. Access to children under the communications law is already limited by adults. The inadmissibility of using social networks in the workplace is a matter of enterprise policy. For many, it is important to use social networks to provide services according to their profile. And who needs it - they can restrict access now, "the ombudsman quotes Kommersant.
Representatives of the largest social networks also criticized the bill. Meduza quotes an ironic response from VKontakte press secretary Evgeny Krasnikov:We consider the proposed measures insufficiently prohibitive, and, in our opinion, the document needs to be seriously revised. It is necessary to forbid children who have not done their homework to watch cartoons, to leave the house without a hat. In addition, it should be prohibited to wear [sneakers] Air Max and tuck pants. We, for our part, are ready to block users for deuces in a quarter, as well as for the fact that they are malnourished by their grandmother. In our opinion, it is necessary to legally oblige users of social networks to pass TRP standards before each login to their account. Only high school students and the children of Deputy Milonov can be freed from this. "
“To pass such laws, you first need to understand very well what the children themselves need and how they use the Internet,” Anastasia Zhbanova, press secretary of the Odnoklassniki social network, believes. (meduza.io). “We deeply respect the desire to make technologies more transparent, but so far we are not ready to seriously comment on the initiative.”
The head of the monitoring project Roskomsvoboda, Artem Kozlyuk, accused Milonov of professional incompetence, and called the bill he had developed absurd.
“I haven’t seen such a degree of absurdity and legal illiteracy, as in the text of this draft law,” admitted Artem Kozlyuk, “it is full of huge amounts of risks for the circulation of information in the network space. For example, it is absurd to oblige to provide social networks with official documents - there is a risk of leakage of this data, they will end up on the black market. Besides, why should any legal entity store a huge array of user information and passport data? And in general, why should I show my passport during social interaction? When we leave the house, we do not show our personal data in order to start a conversation with someone, and this is the same social interaction as on the web. Only online, MP Milonov suggests showing your passport and then starting a conversation. "
According to Kozlyuk, the document submitted to the State Duma “does not correlate either with constitutional norms or with other norms of law”: “A circle of controversial topics that cannot be discussed is determined. To create a group to organize a demonstration, rally or picket, we must receive the approval of the city hall. Some commissions are being introduced that will monitor actions on the social network - that is, it is proposed to build a bureaucratic machine of supervision and censorship that will determine what should be in the social network, how users should interact, the gradation of ages, what groups can be created, what you can collect money for through crowdfunding. It is also forbidden to block or delete the user's page - this, you see, the deputy Milonov was very offended that his Facebook page was blocked "(meduza.io).
Movement "Young Lawyers of Russia" posted on the portal of public initiatives a petition demanding the withdrawal of the odious deputy's bill from the State Duma.
“We need to create modern leisure options for adolescents, make the school curriculum interesting and modern, develop mass sports and look for sources of funding, support young directors, and not“ feed ”young people with current TV content. But this is all difficult for the deputies, they have to deal with this and work, it is easier for them to ban it, ”said the chairman of the movement, Sergei Bruev (znak.com) .
According to n olitologist Konstantin Kalachev, Vitaly Milonov's bill significantly restricts the rights and freedoms of citizens. The analyst also drew attention to the fact that on the day the project was presented, the results of the VTsIOM poll were published, which showed that 62% of Russians are in favor of a ban on the use of social networks by children under 14 years old.
“All this looks like pressure and preparation of society for the real introduction of Internet regulation,” the expert suggested (Kommersant). - Milonov's initiative is covered by the protection of children, but it concerns all users. This is due to the problems caused by the opposition in power, which uses the Internet as an effective communication channel. "