Russia Will Ban Facebook in 2018

Russia’s internet watchdog on Tuesday
warned Facebook it would be banned in
2018 unless it complies with a law on
storing local users’ data.



“The law is compulsory for all,” the head
of Roskomnadzor telecoms watchdog
Alexander Zharov told journalists in
Moscow, quoted by Interfax news
agency.



“We will work on getting Facebook to
observe the law,” Zharov said. “This will
all
happen in 2018 definitely.”



A controversial law passed in 2014
requires foreign messaging services,
search engines and social networking
sites to
store the personal data of Russian users
inside Russia.



The law, which was fiercely opposed by
the telecommunications industry, is an
apparent move to pressure sites such as
Facebook and Twitter into handing over
user information.




“In any case we will
either get the law carried out or the
company will stop working in Russia, as
unfortunately happened to LinkedIn,”
Zharov said.



“There are no exceptions here,” he
added.



Russian internet providers last
year blocked the LinkedIn professional
networking site after Roskomnadzor
said it
broke the law on personal data storage.



Zharov’s comments came after Facebook
revealed that Russia-linked fake
accounts paid for ads that may have
influenced last
year’s US election.



Facebook said it was
sharing its findings with the US
authorities.



The threat of a ban also
comes as Russia is gearing up for
presidential elections in March next
year.




Facebook is widely used by the
opposition to President Vladimir Putin
to coordinate protests and make
political statements.