Not Because Of War, Google Alphabet Inc And Meta Platform Inc Face The Threat Of Punishment In Russia

Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook's owner Meta Platforms Inc are facing penalties in Russia. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Alphabet's Google Inc and Facebook's owner Meta Platforms Inc are some of the internet and social media companies facing possible punitive action in Russia. This comes after they failed to open a local office in the country of the red bear and took other actions required by the communications law of the Vladimir Putin government.

Since July 2021, a Russian law signed by President Vladimir Putin has required foreign social media companies with more than 500,000 daily users to open local offices or be subject to some direct restrictions.

The new rules also require companies to register with Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor, and have a system in place to deal with user complaints. As of November 2021, Roskomnadzor has received registrations of 13 companies wishing to officially open branches on Russian soil.

In January it was announced that this provision would run until the end of February. But by the March deadline, it turned out that only a few companies were meeting the requirements.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week, Western governments have also urged these companies to fight Putin in every possible way.

Apple Inc and Spotify Technology SA had fully complied with the rules in Russia, before the battle began in Ukraine. On Monday, February 28, the Roskomnadzor website indicated that the messaging app Rakuten Group Inc Viber had completed all the necessary steps.

Six other companies have also complied with at least one policy but have not established Russian legal entities or local offices. They are Google, Meta Platform Inc., Twitter Inc, TikTok ByteDance, Zoom Video Communications Inc, video app JOYY Inc Likee, the government website said Monday evening.

Meta had "protracted discussions" with Russian regulators until the invasion of Ukraine took place. This was said by Nick Clegg, Meta's head of global affairs, during a press conference call on Tuesday, March 1.

Clegg said Meta strives to comply with laws "where we feel we can do so in good conscience," but added there were other provisions that Meta found difficult to understand.

Four other companies - chat tool Discord, live streaming unit Amazon.com Inc, Twitch, messaging app Telegram and bookmarking service Pinterest Inc, have also taken no steps to comply with the regulations in Russia, according to a Russian government website.

Likee said its February 16 submission to form a Russian legal entity was under review and plans to comply with the law. Meanwhile, Twitter declined to comment, and 11 other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

Last month, Roskomnadzor said it would start banning non-compliant companies from selling ads in Russia. Previously they said that blocking access to targeted services would be the last resort, and other penalties could include restrictions on data collection and money transfers.

The regulations are part of a wider campaign for internet control that critics say threatens individual and corporate liberties. Authorities in Russia have issued small fines to social media companies for ignoring demands to censor anti-government activists or information.

Russia, which has called its actions in Ukraine a "special operation", has restricted users' access to Facebook in recent days in retaliation for censoring state media services on the platform. Facebook does so because critics say Russian state media is promoting fake news and propaganda. Twitter is also slow to access mobile devices.

Demand has spiked in Russia during a crackdown on virtual private network (VPN) applications, which can help circumvent internet restrictions. Three of the top five most downloaded apps on Apple's App Store on Monday were VPNs.

They generated a combined 383,000 installs over the past seven days. This number is 15 times more than the previous seven-day period.

According to Insider Intelligence research, Russia, with a population of around 144 million, had nearly 51 million users on Instagram and 7.5 million on Facebook last November,