Russia To Punish Facebook & Twitter If They Refuse To Localise Users' Database

Following Russia's attempt to create a separate Internet of her own, Russian Telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor has said that it will punish Twitter and Facebook if they refuse to relocate the database hosting Russian users to the country.

This move comes as Russia is planning to disconnect itself from the Internet as part of a planned experiment that is meant to gather insight and provide feedback that will aid her in creating a separate Internet that will stay independent in the events of foreign aggressors trying to shut her off from the Internet.

"The companies will either have to localise the databases within a certain period of time, which i suppose will be about nine months, or they will be punished," Xinhua news agency quoted Roskomnadzor head Alexander Zharov.The Roskomnadzor boss expects Facebook and Twitter representatives to meet with Roskomnadzor officials in Moscow by the end of February to resolve the issue.Russian legislation requires Internet service providers to store and process personal data of Russians on Russian soil. In fact, Roskomnadzor has the right to impose fine or even block those companies that are in violation of the law.

Russia plans to route 95% of the country's Internet traffic locally by 2020, in fact the country authorities even have a local backup of the Domain Name System (DNS) which have been tested twice in 2014 and 2018.

Last year, the Russian Telecom watchdog fined instant messaging service Telegram for its refusal to provide user data of Russian citizens. Telegram was later blocked from the country but instead, the block resulted in the disruption of services in the country.