Google is reportedly considering moving Russian users' personal data to servers located inside the country, complying with a new law that will force foreign Internet services to store data in Russia. The law will be enforced starting on Sept. 1, 2016.

Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported the move on Thursday, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the talks between Google and the Russian government. Google has data centers around the world.

Over the past several years, the Russian government has passed a series of regulations that aim to increase its grip on the Internet, including the aforementioned law on data stored locally and a bill that forces bloggers with more than 3,000 monthly visitors to register with the government. Critics say these are part of an effort by President Vladimir Putin to constrain Russian citizens' Internet freedom and give the government more surveillance power online.

"The recent clampdown has been so extensive that Facebook and Twitter remain among the last platforms for free expression," Emily Parker, the author of Now I Know Who My Comrades Are: Voices from the Internet Underground told Mashable. "Now, those companies are being put to the test. If Google does decide to store data on Russian servers, will Twitter and Facebook do the same? Will they agree to store data on Russian servers, or risk being blocked in Russia?"

At this point, it's unclear if Google will adhere to the new law. The company did not respond to Mashable's request for comment.

Laura Reed, a research analyst at Freedom House, a human rights watchdog, warned that the report in state-owned Itar-Tass could simply be attempt "to make it seem like Google is willing, or 'is considering,' complying with the law."

Reed isn't the only one skeptical.

Google to mull ways to store Russian users’ personal data locally http://t.co/b9stpJl0tu I wonder if this is another bullshit planted story. — Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) September 4, 2014

The implications of such a move would be significant. With Russians' data stored locally, the government would have more legal leeway to request data from Google on Russian netizens, and Google would have less elbow room to decline those requests.The same reasoning goes for censorship requests; with servers in the country, Google would be forced to comply with local laws.

A similar situation took place in Turkey recently.

In March, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has since been elected as president, blocked Twitter as a last resort to stop a flurry of embarrassing leaks on the social network; Twitter wouldn't block the accounts providing the leaks. In the ensuing weeks after Twitter was unblocked in the country, the government in Turkey asked the social network to open an office there, which would put the company under more pressure to comply with Turkish law.

Twitter refused, as there is no legal obligation for companies operating in Turkey to open an office (or store data) in the country.

Russia might be putting Google under similar pressure. A lawmaker in Putin's government said on Thursday that Google has been passing data to Ukraine's security service about Russian web users.

"Google remains in the jurisdiction of the United States of America, and the U.S. is now officially seeking to weaken Russia and destabilize the situation," said Evgeny Fyodorov, a member of Putin's parliament, according to RT. "This is a direct order for all organizations that fall under its control."

Fyodorov also asked Russian law enforcement agencies to investigate Google, likening Google's alleged actions of passing data to Ukraine to an invasion of sovereignty.

Google has "users’ personal data that they can provide to any interested party," Fyodorov added. "Previously the personal data of Russians could get into the hands of the United States, as part of the sanctions plan, but now our citizens face threats also from the SBU which is, in essence, a terrorist organization [...] In other words, this is quite a feasible system to invade other nations’ territory."