According to Interfax, a fine of 3 to 5 thousand rubles (approximately 480 to 800 thousand soums) is provided for deliberate search of prohibited content. For VPN advertising - up to 500 thousand rubles (more than 80 million soums).
Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadaev explained that punishment is threatened only with proven intent - if the user did not know about the prohibited nature of the material and did not have malicious intent, he will not be held responsible, even when using a VPN.
Sergei Boyarsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, noted that the Ministry of Justice currently has about 5.5 thousand extremist materials in its register. The amendments relate specifically to their deliberate search and use.
Facebook Instagram and Facebook, which are banned in Russia, are not illegal to use VPNs, he also stressed. However, if it is established that the VPN was used to circumvent responsibility, this will be considered an aggravating circumstance, added Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the committee.
In addition, new articles are being introduced into the legislation regarding the illegal transfer of subscriber numbers and access data to Internet resources to third parties.
