Overview
- Law 281-F3 took effect on September 1, introducing fines up to 5,000 rubles for intentional searches that access materials listed in the Justice Ministry’s extremist register.
- Officials say the register holds roughly 5,500 items and that more than 20,000 removal requests to foreign platforms remain unanswered, according to Roskomnadzor.
- The Digital Ministry says authorities must prove intent and that merely seeing flagged results without clicking is not punishable, though lawyers question how such monitoring would function in practice.
- Advertising for VPN services is now punishable, and a senior Duma lawmaker said using a VPN to reach banned material could be treated as evidence of intent.
- The Kremlin-backed MAX messenger is being installed by default on newly sold phones as a national platform, with pressure to adopt it in schools, while critics warn of expanded surveillance.