Roskomnadzor clarified the nuances of regulating the work of instant messengers in the territory of the Russian Federation

The head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, stated that it is not planned to limit the work of instant messengers in the territory of the Russian Federation. We are talking only about proposals for regulating the activities of OTT operators, Interfax writes . These operators include services like instant messengers. These also can be attributed, and social networks in which you can exchange messages.

“We are now discussing this issue with telecom operators, with the competent authorities and are preparing a number of proposals that can form the basis of the law (regulating the activities of instant messengers). OTT operators must enter into an agreement with telecom operators and comply with the restrictions applicable to operators. The same mass mailing. These are not only instant messengers. These are cinemas and financial services, ”the department head told reporters.

At the same time, Alexander Zharov argues that so far it is only a question of the proposals of the department. “No decisions were made on restricting the activities of instant messengers in the Russian Federation, they are not made, and even in a dream we don’t dream,” said Zharov.
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The ministry also gave an official comment on its page on the social network Vkontakte:

“Roskomnadzor does not have the right of legislative initiative and cannot create and propose bills for consideration.

Obviously, the topic of the functioning of mobile text messaging services (messengers) is in the focus of attention of the expert community and regulatory authorities of various countries. Separate norms are integrated into the legislation of the USA, China and other states.

This topic is of interest to Roskomnadzor in the aspect of public security and the protection of users' interests. The main problem here is the use of instant messengers for instant mass mailing of messages, including a provocative, malicious character. An example of such mailings can serve as the November attack of spammers in WhatsApp about the impending attacks in Moscow and Kazan. Obviously, the attackers were aiming to sow fear and panic in society. ”

Now Roskomnadzor in the "expert discussion mode" leads the discussion of the problem with technical experts and lawyers - representatives of telecom operators. There is no final decision yet, the discussion is still ongoing.

Earlier in the hands of journalists, "Vedomosti" was a copy of the bill, which proposes to begin to regulate the work of instant messengers in Russia. A little later, the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the restrictions on the operation of such services we are not talking.