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- Pass the post: fines for advertising on banned social networks want to increase 40 times
Pass the post: fines for advertising on banned social networks want to increase 40 times
They want to increase fines for publishing ads on social networks recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation by 40 times. Such amendments to the Administrative Code are being worked out by State Duma deputies from United Russia. Currently, the maximum fine for individuals is 2.5 thousand rubles. It is proposed to increase it to 100,000, since advertising revenue is not comparable with the amount of the alleged punishment. The bill banning such publications has already been adopted by the State Duma in the final reading on March 25. Over the past three years, Russians have spent 13.6 billion rubles on advertising on these resources, Roskomnadzor noted.
What is the responsibility for advertising on banned social networks?
In Russia, fines for bloggers for placing ads on banned foreign information resources can be increased by 40 times. Instagram Facebook, in particular, belong to the Meta company, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. Such amendments to the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation were initiated by Anatoly Vyborny, Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security.
On March 25, the State Duma in the final, third reading adopted a bill that establishes a ban on advertising on extremist social networks. However, experts agree that the punishment for violating this requirement should not be very lenient, since the revenues for such advertising can be millions, and the fines are meager, the deputy told Izvestia.
A bill banning the distribution of advertising on the information resources of organizations recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation, as well as on the resources of organizations whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation, was submitted to the State Duma by deputies of the United Russia, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party and Just Russia — For Truth factions and senators. The document was adopted in the first reading in July 2024, and in the second and third readings on March 25 this year. The regulations come into force on September 1. Representatives of the blogging community had previously asked deputies for such a postponement. As State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin explained on the eve of the document's adoption, Russian users — bloggers, entrepreneurs, companies — continue to use these social networks to promote goods and services through the use of circumvention technologies. The income from distributed advertising goes to the benefit of resource owners who carry out provocative activities and unfriendly actions towards our country and its citizens.
According to Anatoly Vyborny, currently the responsibility for violating the legislation on advertising is provided for in Article 14.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. It has separate rules for credit and microfinance organizations, for those who advertise medicines and medical services, for foreign organizations and citizens who advertise on the Internet in Russia.
At the same time, there is no special rule for violating the new requirement to ban advertising on banned foreign social networks, Anatoly Vyborny notes.
— This means that all the perpetrators will now be punished under part 1 of Article 14.3 of the Administrative Code. The maximum fines for individuals under it are up to 2.5 thousand rubles, which is incomparable with the income they receive for advertising. In this regard, we are already receiving proposals to increase liability. We are working on the issue of introducing a separate rule in the Administrative Code for violation by individuals of the requirement to ban the publication of advertisements on prohibited foreign networks with fines from 30 thousand to 100 thousand rubles," the deputy said.
He also did not rule out working out the issue of increasing administrative fines for businesses that advertise their goods and services in this way. Currently, the penalty for legal entities under Part 1 of Article 14.3 of the Administrative Code is up to 500 thousand rubles.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Justice with a request to comment on the need to toughen fines for new crimes.
Roskomnadzor told Izvestia that they supported the bill banning advertising on banned social networks, as well as any other measures aimed at enforcing the law.
—The agency has all the necessary tools to monitor the implementation of legislation, including on prohibited resources," they added.
Roskomnadzor also noted that the volume of advertising budgets registered in the Unified Register of Online Advertising (from 2022 to 2024), aimed at advertising on foreign social networks, access to which is restricted in the Russian Federation, amounted to 13.6 billion rubles. Of these, Instagram accounts for 9.46 billion rubles, X (ex. Twitter) — 2.12 billion, Facebook — 2.02 billion.
How do bloggers assess the losses from the ban on advertising
The Izvestia Association of Bloggers and Agencies stated that they do not evaluate the draft laws, since the main task of the association is to enter into a dialogue with the state in order to bring new standards to a level comfortable for all parties, as well as to educate the market and help it adapt to the realities.
They also recalled that as part of the bill passed by the State Duma to ban advertising on extremist foreign social networks, they ensured that its actions came into force six months after signing. This way, bloggers, brands, agencies will be able to put all documents in order, redirect advertising campaigns to other social networks (Telegram, VK, etc.), the press service of the association explained.
"As a result of the new regulations, bloggers will lose about 1.8 billion rubles in four months from the beginning of the law, and in 2026 the amount may increase to 5 billion rubles," representatives of the blogging community estimated their losses.
Valeria Rytvina, the founder of the Bloggers' Council, told Izvestia that when paying for an advertising campaign, funds are transferred not to the site's accounts (as happens when paying for targeted VK advertising), but to the accounts of an LLC / sole proprietor/ self-employed Russian legal entity. Meta itself does not participate in any way in the process of paying for an advertising campaign, she noted.
In her opinion, advertisers from mothers with many children who make soap and bake cakes to large networks remain unable to effectively promote their products and services.
— Any social network has its own target audience and subscribers, which have been developed over the years. Therefore, of course, there will be certain losses for bloggers and businesses, but we were prepared for such a development. After all, there is an information war going on against our country," Alexander Kalinin, president of Opora Russia, explained to Izvestia.
According to him, Russia has its own alternative social networks, such as VKontakte, where advertising budgets could be redirected.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
