Obligations and authorities provided in proposed draft law for regulation of audio-visual services in Russia

The new law has been introduced into Russian state duma. It was already specified the main provisions of this law. From this draft law provisions, regulating operation of app like Viber and WhatsApp, have been excluded.

Let’s take a look at the obligations and authorities provided in draft law for subjects of regulations. If you have strong wish to take a closer look at the regulation of their responsibilities, take your own journey to provisions of proposed draft law.

What organiser of audio-visual service is obliged to do, in other words, what it must do? It must preclude the use of informational system and/or software for computers, including web-sites or separate pages in internet, in order to commit a criminal offense, to disclose information constituting state or other protected by state secret, to disseminate materials containing public calls to terroristic activity or publicly justifying terrorism, to disseminate extremist, pornographic or other forbidden by Russian law materials.

At request of a user the organiser must delete information disseminated in violation of Russian legislation, i.e. false information or private data. Organiser must appoint a person responsible for verifying information, which is publicly accessible and disseminated, and for execution of law requirements.

Organiser must categorise all disseminated information, if such information has been not categorised by its producers or distributors before. In order to receive legally significant notifications or information, the organiser of audio-visual service must publish on its website in Internet email address or make feedback.

If the internet user requires to delete certain information, published by organiser of audio-visual service, such user must provide the organiser with his/her name, address, passport details and contact details in a case of natural person. If the user is a legal entity, it must provide the organiser with name, address and contact details (incorporation number is not so necessary). In a case of natural person in certain instances it can be required to provide a copy of internal passport.

What must do the Federal authority, supervising audio-visual services? It maintains register of audio-visual services and monitors a telecommunication networks, including Internet. It defines the quantity of users visiting audio-visual service in question. It also has authority to require information necessary for maintenance of register. The person is obliged to provide necessary information within 10 days following the receiving of inquiry.

The court can forbid a dissemination of audio-visual services in Russia if operator of such services has not complied with requirements of federal authority during the year. The draft law also provides mechanism allowing to block audio-visual service if operator does not comply with requirements of relevant authority. At the request of relevant federal authority, supervising audio-visual services, internet provider just cuts the access to web-resource in question.