Russia’s federal censor launches registry of social media platforms

Roskomnadzor has started to maintain a registry of major social networks, the Russian censorship agency announced on Wednesday, September 22.

Eight platforms are included in the registry so far: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Likee (a video creation and sharing app), VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki. Corresponding notices were sent to the companies that own these platforms.

Notably, the popular messenger app Telegram is not included in the list, despite the fact that it formally falls under the definition of a “social network” used in the Russian legislation.

• Russia adopted a federal law stipulating the creation of a registry of social networks was in late 2020. According to the legislation, the owners of sites included in the registry are obliged to moderate and block content prohibited in Russia. However, the law does not yet envisage liability for non-compliance.