Russia is warning Google, Twitter and Facebook that they could be banned in the country if they don’t agree to hand over data on Russian bloggers and allow the Kremlin to block certain websites, Reuters reported
In a letter to executives on Monday, the director of the communications oversight agency warned that the three US companies could face sanctions if they continued alleged illegal activities in Russia, Izvestia newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Moscow claims failure to do so would violate Russian Internet laws that President Vladimir Putin promotes as security measures.
Moscow’s internet laws mandate that companies turn over data on any Russian bloggers with more than 3,000 readers per day.
The media overnight agency wrote each company, pressing them to comply with these dicta.
The spokesman, Vadim Ampelonsky told Reuters that in their letters they regularly reminded companies of the consequences of violating the legislation.
Russia in recent years passed a series of internet control laws.
According to the guardian, since the start of President Vladimir Putin’s third term in 2012, the government has launched a crackdown on the internet in Russia, passing laws that give state supervisory bodies wide-ranging powers to to regulate and block websites.
Google was forced to move some servers to Russia this year under a law requiring Russians’ personal data to be stored on its territory.
It is not yet clear how Google, Twitter and Facebook will respond to the request.
