The State Duma decided to fine Google and Facebook for interfering in Russian elections

Vasily Piskarev, head of the State Duma commission to investigate the facts of interference of foreign states in the internal affairs of Russia, proposed introducing millions of fines for foreign companies for interfering in the affairs of the Russian Federation. The amount of fines for Google and Facebook, who allegedly violated the “day of silence” before the elections on September 8, should amount to “millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of rubles,” he believes.

Details

• The deputies, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office, will prepare amendments on the responsibility of foreign resources for violating Russian law, Piskarev said.
• The September 8 elections showed that some commercial companies are interfering in Russia's affairs "quite seriously," he said. We are talking about the fact that political and campaign advertising was published on the sites, which is now prohibited by the law "On Basic Electoral Guarantees" on the day before the elections, and on the day of the elections themselves. Piskarev called the violation of this article of the law by Facebook and Google "political actionism."

Quote. “These are commercial companies, so fines are a serious response for commercial companies. By the way, this is a global practice, there should be fines at the level of ... millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds ... of rubles for interference and violation of Russian law, ”Piskarev said.

• He also said that the commission intends to "work in detail with NGOs, NGOs that are actively working against our domestic policy, our internal affairs, as well as with those media that are recognized as foreign agents in our country." He clarified that 10 NGOs that “influence the internal politics of our country and threaten the security of our elections” can be recognized as new “undesirable organizations”.

What's next. Representatives of Google and Facebook will be invited to the next meeting of the commission on September 27. “Despite the fact that they do not have the authority to enforce the requirements of our legislation, nevertheless, I would like to talk with them why this is happening, how we should respond to such obvious violations,” Piskarev explained. He also said that the Duma does not yet understand whether a representative of the German television company Deutsche Welle, which is also accused of violating Russian laws, will attend the meeting. Earlier, the company's management refused the invitation, explaining that "a call to the mat is clearly not the best way to exchange views."

Context. The Duma commission (there is still a similar commission of the Federation Council) was created in August of this year after uncoordinated rallies in Moscow on July 27 and August 3. At that time, foreign publications, the US embassy portal and foreign information resources allegedly called on Russians to participate in illegal actions (although the embassy only warned US citizens to avoid places where there could be clashes). The commission's work may result in new restrictions on the Internet.