Roskomnadzor orders Twitter and Facebook to localize Russian users’ data by July 1

Foreign social networks have until July 1 to localize Russian users’ data on servers located inside Russia, announced Milos Vagner, the deputy head of the federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, on May 26.

According to Interfax, this data-localization deadline applies to Facebook, Twitter, and other foreign social networks.

Vagner said that more than 600 companies have already localized their databases on servers located inside Russia, in order to comply with legal requirements. He also added that companies that repeatedly refuse to localize Russia users’ data face fines ranging up to 18 million rubles (more than $244,400).

In February 2020, Facebook and Twitter were fined four million rubles (more than $54,000) each for refusing to localize Russian users’ data. Facebook paid the fine, but Twitter challenged the ruling.

In April, Roskomnadzor gave Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Whatsapp until the end of May to respond to their requests to localize Russian users’ data on servers located inside Russia.

On May 25, a Moscow court fined Facebook a total of 26 million rubles (about $353,300) in connection with eight claims filed over the social network’s failure to remove banned content. That same day, the court fined Google six million rubles (more than $81,500) in connection with three proceedings on the same grounds.

Roskomnadzor has been throttling Twitter’s traffic since March due to the platform’s failure to remove information prohibited by the Russian authorities. The censorship agency threatened Google with similar measures on May 24.