Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an annual nationwide televised phone-in show in Moscow, Russia June 30, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/

Putin signs law forcing foreign social media giants to open Russian offices

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2021-07-01 18:00:10

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an annual nationwide televised phone-in show in Moscow, Russia June 30, 2021. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that obliges foreign social media giants to open offices in Russia, a document published by the government on Thursday showed, the latest move by Moscow to exert greater control over Big Tech.

The Russian authorities are keen to strengthen their control of the internet and to reduce their dependence on foreign companies and countries.

In particular, they have objected in the past to political opponents of the Kremlin using foreign social media platforms to organise what they say are illegal protests and to publicise politically-tinged investigations into alleged corruption.

Moscow has fined firms for failing to delete content it says is illegal, slowing down the speed of Twitter as punishment, and on Wednesday opened a new case against Alphabet (GOOGL.O) subsidiary Google for breaching personal data legislation. read more