Putin signs bill banning advertisements on foreign agent resources into law

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the bill banning the advertisements of individuals and legal entities on foreign agents' resources into law.

The document was published on the official website of legal information on Monday.

It amends the Federal Law on Control over the Activity of Persons under Foreign Influence and the Law on Advertising. It bans advertising on and of foreign agents' resources.

An advertiser and an ad distributor will be held liable for violating the ban.

The Law on Mass Media is amended to ban advertising of foreign agents' resources in mass media and online.

Earlier, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that the proposed amendments to the law on advertising would apply to all kinds of online services, including websites, blogs and social networks.

"The current laws already stipulate measures of liability. Failure to comply with the legal restrictions for foreign agents, among which we propose stipulating a ban on placing advertisement, is subject to a fine of up to 50,000 rubles for individuals and up to 500,000 rubles for legal entities. This is envisioned by the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses," State Duma Security Committee head Vasily Piskaryov said on Telegram earlier.

A violation of the restrictions on activities of a foreign agent or a Russian legal entity founded by a foreign agent and designated as a foreign agent committed after having been held administrative liable twice within one year would be qualified as a crime under the Russian Criminal Code and carry up to two years' imprisonment, he said.

The law would not apply to media outlets quoting information of foreign agents, Piskaryov said. However, mentioning foreign agents for purely advertising purposes so as to attract audiences and encourage it to gain access to foreign agents' resources would be qualified as an offense, he said.

The law was authored by 395 State Duma members.