The government's expert group recommended clarifying the provisions of the "Yarovaya package"

The petition to cancel the "Yarovaya package" was rejected, but some of its parts were proposed to be clarified.

On January 19, 2017, the expert working group, which was reviewing the petitions of the Russian Public Initiative that had collected 100,000 votes, rejected the proposal to cancel the "Yarovaya package". However, experts stated that it needed to be adjusted.

Deputy Minister of Communications Alexey Volin stated at a meeting of the working group that, in terms of storing data transmitted by users, his department proposes increasing storage periods in stages (from a day to a week, then to two weeks, to a month, and so on up to six months), and also not obliging providers to store streaming video, IPTV, torrents, etc., which will reduce the volume of stored data by 10 times.

The working group also recommended that the State Duma consider the issue of changes to current regulatory legal acts in terms of eliminating the possibility of a broad interpretation of the concepts of "missionary activity", "extremist activity", "insulting the religious feelings of believers", and the Supreme Court called for informing the courts of the inadmissibility of a broad interpretation of these concepts.

It should be noted that the concepts of “extremist activity” and “insulting the religious feelings of believers” existed in Russian legislation even before the adoption of the “Yarovaya package”.

A package of two bills on strengthening anti-extremist and anti-terrorist measures, initiated by Senator Viktor Ozerov and Deputy Irina Yarovaya, was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 7, 2016. One of the laws requires providers to store information about the facts of citizens' communications and the calls and correspondence themselves, obliges organizers of the dissemination of information on the Internet to transfer keys to the FSB for decrypting users' correspondence, and providers - to terminate contracts with subscribers if their personal data is not confirmed to match those specified in the contract. In addition, the law significantly limitsmissionary activity : it prohibits missionary work in residential premises, and also requires missionaries to act on behalf of a registered religious group.

The second law concerns a significant tightening of penalties for terrorist and extremist crimes, as well as for organizing illegal migration, and a reduction in the age of criminal liability for a number of crimes (primarily terrorist crimes). It also introduced an article into the Criminal Code on failure to report a terrorist crime. In addition, criminal punishment was introduced for incitement to organize mass riots. We believe that many of the provisions they introduce are unnecessary and even harmful. Russian law enforcement practice has not revealed any prerequisites for tightening measures to combat extremism: the prosecution almost never requests maximum penalties under the relevant articles, and the introduction of excessively harsh penalties only leads to increased tension in society. We also believe that the fight against extremism and even terrorism does not require or justify new measures that further restrict the rights that are already excessively limited in Russia - freedom of speech, religion, information, privacy.

Sources

• The expert working group did not support the petition to repeal the “Yarovaya law” // Open Government. 2017. January 20.
• Elizaveta Sergina. Internet TV and torrents will be excluded from the “Yarovaya law” // Vedomosti. 2017. January 19.