Russia has started registering popular bloggers ahead of next year’s mandatory ‘verification’ program

The Russian Federal State Information System’s online portal now allows bloggers with more than 10,000 subscribers to register ahead of next year’s deadline if they want to place advertisements or solicit donations. Registration is open to qualifying individuals, legal entities, sole proprietors, and foreigners. Those completing the form receive a unique identification number, which they must show in either a pinned message or their channel’s description, so federal regulators can verify that the applicant owns the channel.

Once verified and registered, channel administrators must include a hyperlink to their official listing in the channel’s description.

The legislation requiring bloggers to register with the government was adopted this summer and takes effect at the start of 2025. Blogs and social media channels with more than 10,000 followers that fail to register are prohibited from earning advertising or subscription income, and all social media users will be banned from sharing content from “unverified” pages.