Russian State Duma passes national messenger bill
MOSCOW. June 10 (Interfax) - A bill on combining functionalities of domestic digital services, both public, financial and commercial, in a single application passed the second and third, final reading at the State Duma on Tuesday.
The bill tasks the Russian government with designating an organization to be responsible for the launch and operation of the multifunctional information-exchange service. There are two criteria for the organization. First, it has to be a Russian legal entity operating a website (service or program) with a Russian daily audience exceeding 500,000. The website must allow advertising and work through installed applications on devices. The second requirement is to have exclusive rights to the program included in the register of Russian software.
The bill will allow creating a national multifunctional service in Russia, State Duma Information Policy Committee Chairman Sergei Boyarsky said, as he presented the initiative.
"It will be more than a national messenger with numerous interesting and unique functions," Boyarsky said.
"A trusted and secure environment will be created for communication and telephone calls with simultaneous access to public and commercial services," he said.
For example, "the application can be used to confirm one's age to a supermarket cashier or check in a hotel without presenting paper documents," Boyarsky said.
"We have clearly defined its characteristics and security requirements. I have no doubt this is the right step towards strengthening our digital sovereignty," he said.
The initiative has been made in furtherance of the logic of the development of the entire national digital system, Boyarsky said. "The mandatory condition of the service is that it is a domestic product listed on the register of Russian software. This means it will meet the highest security standards," Boyarsky said.
Boyarsky described the key functions of the application. It will allow verifying identity with a digital ID, such as virtual discount cards, instead of using paper documents. There will also be a legal opportunity for citizens to use the national service for communicating with public and municipal authorities, and educational chats and services will also move to the national platform.
"Connecting the service to the Gosklyuch (state key) system will allow using an enhanced digital signature for signing agreements in transactions with other people or companies. On the one hand, this will make the process convenient, and on the other, will allow maintaining security," Boyarsky said. He added that paper documents would remain valid, while the digital service would provide an alternative.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Information Policy Committee Anton Gorelkin said, for his part, that a single state platform would bring together businesses, the authorities and users, and will address important aspects of interaction between citizens and public services. "Any ban on foreign messengers is not on the table," Gorelkin said. There is international experience of the creation of such services, he said. "The closest analogy, which does not fully coincide with our vision, is WeChat," a Chinese mobile communication system for sending text and voice messages, he said.
The bill will take effect on the day of official publishing, except for the provision on the service's inclusion in the list of mandatory installed programs. That provision will take effect on September 1, 2025.
Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev said at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with government members that the national messenger would be developed on the basis of the VK Internet holding's digital platform.