Council of the Federation obliged Russian social networks to block illegal gambling content

At a meeting of representatives of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation parliamentarians approved the concept of “social network” and obliged the owners of such sites to independently monitor and block the content prohibited by law. This norm will take effect on February 1, 2021.

Now a social network is an Internet resource that distributes information through the creation by users of their personal pages. The total volume of users of such a resource must exceed 500,000 people per day. A special department of Roskomnadzor will maintain the register of social networks.

It is stated in the document that the social networks will have to conduct an analysis of all emerging information in order to block the illegal content posted on it. This includes information prohibited for distribution in Russia, including advertising campaigns to popularize and promote illegal gambling.

In the opinion of the authors of the draft law, the current situation on the illegal gambling market may be corrected only through the adoption of appropriate amendments to the current legislative framework. Earlier the Roskomnadzor launched a campaign against offshore gambling operators by prohibiting the advertising of illegal gambling.

It should be noted that the State Duma of the Russian Federation on December 23 adopted a document on the creation of a single regulator of gambling business in Russia. The body will be called “Unified Gambling Regulator”. Its responsibilities will include monitoring the entire volume of transactions in the gambling industry. The Ministry of Finance will oversee the work of the agency.

Recall that the gambling zone in Crimea will begin to be built in 2021.