Duma passes legislation banning ads on foreign agents' online resources

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - The Russian State Duma on Wednesday passed legislation banning individuals and legal entities from placing their advertisements on online resources belonging to entities designated as foreign agents.

The bill amends Article 11 of the Law on Control over the Activity of Persons under Foreign Influence with restrictions and bans imposed on foreign agents consistent with the Law on Advertising.

Substantial amendments are made to Articles 5 and 7 of the Law on Advertising to prohibit advertisements from being placed on foreign agents' information resources and advertising of foreign agents' information resources.

It also amends Article 4 of the Law on Mass Media to ban advertising foreign agents' information resources in mass media and online materials.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said earlier that the proposed amendments to the Law on Advertising would apply to all kinds of platforms, including websites, blogs and social networks.

Over 200 Russian individuals and legal entities advertised their goods and services on foreign agents' information resources last year alone, he said. "These are hundreds of millions of rubles. Many bastards who received the money do not deny donating to the Ukrainian Armed Forces that kill our soldiers, officers and civilians. This must be put to a stop," he said.

Vasily Piskaryov, chairman of the Duma Security Committee, earlier listed measures that would be applied to violators of the restrictions on placing ads on foreign agents' online resources.

"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," Piskaryov said on Telegram.

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 bill 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.

"We are not against the existence of foreign agents' websites, yet we are against placing ads on these resources, since advertising is an encouragement for as many people as possible to access such resources," Piskaryov said.

The legislation was authored by 395 Duma members.