Duma passes law requiring owners of news aggregators to have more than 50% Russian control

MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma has passed at third reading a law requiring owners of news aggregators to have more than 50% Russian control of their management structure.

The law also introduces an obligation for government agencies to use only Russian hosting providers and ban the use of foreign-owned information systems and computer software on the Internet.

It states that a news aggregator may be owned by a Russian citizen who does not have foreign nationality, or by a Russian legal entity.

A Russian legal entity refers to a legal entity controlled by the Russian Federation, or a Russian constituent region or municipality, or a Russian citizen who does not have citizenship of another state, or by individuals controlled by them jointly or separately.

Control refers to the possibility of determining decisions made by a Russian legal entity "by virtue of having a right to manage, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the total number of votes in voting shares which constitute the authorized capital of the legal entity."

This approach will apply unless otherwise provided for by an international agreement of the Russian Federation, the amendments said.

The bill was introduced by MP Anton Gorelkin.

The law will go into effect on February 1, 2024.