The Cabinet of Ministers “conceptually” supported a bill that obliges large foreign IT companies to open offices in Russia.
This was reported by TASS. According to the publication, the Commission of the Government of the Russian Federation on legislative activity gave a positive conclusion about it:
“Taking into account the frequent cases of non-compliance by the services of foreign IT companies with the requirements of Russian legislation, the regulation proposed by the bill seems relevant. Considering the above, the Government of the Russian Federation conceptually supports the bill.”
Last Friday, May 28, he was also supported by the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Central Bank, Roskomnadzor and the Ministry of Finance. The head of the latter, Bella Cherkesova, at the same time said at a meeting of the Information Policy Committee that “the bill is not aimed at squeezing foreign companies out of the Russian market,” but “at leveling the conditions for Russian and foreign Internet companies.”
A little bit about another task of the bill says its author Alexander Khinshtein: “It is due not to the presence of a claim to some resources, but solely to the need to establish a clear and understandable mechanism for interaction and feedback with both the Russian state and Russian citizens, organizations and public structures.”
According to the official website of the State Duma, the committee eventually recommended that the Duma adopt the bill in the first reading.
Recall that the bill concerns all foreign IT companies, the audience of whose products (including information resources) in Russia is 500 thousand or more people. So far, it is said that about 20 foreign companies, including Google, Facebook, TikTok and so on, fall under its action.