Ads under control
The law regulating the services of online announcements (advertising), which is visited by more than 100,000 users per day, was passed by the State Duma in the last third reading on December 21. The document assumes that control in classified companies must be carried out by a Russian legal entity or a citizen of the Russian Federation.
The author of the initiative, in an interview with Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Information Policy Committee TASS He noted that one of the key changes in the second reading was “shifting the focus from Russian ownership to Russian control on decisions made by a legal entity that owns an online classified service.” According to the MP, this control is “determined by the ability to dispose of at least 50% of the votes attributable to the voting shares.” Marketplaces are not subject to the new law.
In addition, the document provides the service owner with liability, including criminal and administrative liability. Therefore, it is forbidden to place advertisements containing illegal information on the sites, and their owners will have to provide Roskomnadzor with the necessary information within 10 days in order for these advertisements to be entered in the registry.
The need to regulate advertisements has been discussed for a long time, and even in the new realities, the topic has not lost its relevance when many Western companies suspended their activities in Russia.
Suspicious control
However, while the law as a whole is relevant and understandable, business and industry as a whole have the question of how exactly to explain the mechanism for exercising the assumed Russian control in the document. In their view, it should also be clarified in an open dialogue with business so that legislation will be effective as a result of this discussion.
Karen Ghazaryan, Analyst Director of the ANO Tsifrovaya economica, states that the law on the regulation of advertisements was adopted in a short time, submitted to the State Duma on June 10, and adopted at the first reading and finally on July 5th. December passed the second and third reading by one day. At the same time, according to the expert, the law is aimed at regulating a large and complex industry, and all the nuances of the work of companies that own advertising services simply could not be taken into account. As a result, Kazaryan believes that the document contains very general formulations that need to be clarified and finalized in close dialogue with the business community in order to take into account all important points in the future.
“At the same time, some of the problems that arise during the debate on the regulation of online advertising services are being resolved by other documents, both at the level of legislation and at the level of industry initiatives. For example, this relates to the issue of data storage security. It has long been regulated by law, in addition, the largest representatives of the classified market have signed the Declaration of Professional Ethics, in which the priority of protection of personal and other sensitive data is emphasized as a separate principle.” expert noted.
He reminded that the charter also includes important self-regulation principles such as transparency, openness, responsibility and others, which show that the industry is mature and understands the basic principles to be followed. Therefore, Kazaryan noted that the supplementary arrangement is an official continuation of the already established practice.
Business representatives interviewed by socialbites.ca agree with him. Representatives of the real estate search service CIAN have ensured that they are always open to further dialogue with the regulatory agency for detailed review and clarification of the mechanism and wording. They emphasize that a large industry and very different companies are now covered by the law, that the details need to be considered depending on the scale of the business and the organizational structure, offering a diversified approach to suit each situation.
“In the current statement cited in the document, there are questions about confirming Russia’s control over decision-making – more work is needed here to clarify this rule. For example, Russian ownership of more than 50% of voting shares: how this rule applies to companies that have only one type of shares, without being divided into voting and non-voting. Besides a number of other nuances that need to be resolved with the job, ”the CIAN concluded.
Another industry representative, hh.ru, an online recruitment company, believes that as a result of the adoption of the law on the regulation of classified activities, it is important for Russian companies to be able to continue to operate without complex organizational changes, as this will affect. efficiency and stability of their work, if necessary.
“At the same time, online advertising services play an important role in the life of Russian consumers, helping to solve employment problems, find housing and purchase goods and services. It is also important to understand that companies create jobs for Russians in an important IT field, work to retain staff and invest in the Russian economy, software development and Internet platforms. Therefore, it is necessary to develop mechanisms for determining Russian control in companies in the dialogue between the regulator and business so that important business processes are not interrupted, ”says the position of hh.ru.