Russian parliament approves a bill punishing online searches for information deemed ‘extremist’
RUSSIA, JUL 25 – Russia's new law fines online searches for extremist content up to $64 and threatens WhatsApp's ban unless it complies with strict local data and surveillance rules.
- On July 18, Russian authorities announced plans to block WhatsApp, the nation’s most popular messaging platform, as part of digital sovereignty efforts.
- Following the Duma vote, the Russian government passed a law criminalizing extremist searches, with a compliance deadline of 1 September 2025 set by President Vladimir Putin.
- Under the new law, the legislation bars top VPNs, imposes 1,000–5,000 ruble fines for extremist searches and up to 80,000 ruble fines for VPN advertising.
- Gorelkin noted on Telegram that Russian lawmakers believe it’s time for WhatsApp to prepare to leave the Russian market.
- According to the Russian Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev, VK developed MAX with capabilities surpassing foreign apps, offering WeChat-like functions.
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Many publications by the opposition and sexual minorities are classified as "extremist".
Russia's Duma criminalizes the search for supposedly extremist content and advertising for VPN. Messengers like Whatsapp are also becoming more and more targeted.

Russian parliament approves a bill punishing online searches for information deemed 'extremist'
The Russian parliament’s upper house has quickly approved a bill that punishes online searches for information officially deemed “extremist."
New Russian Law Will Criminalize Internet Searches For ‘Extremist Content’
It should be uncontroversial at this point to say that the Russian government has waged a long but incremental war on both free speech and a free and open internet. Always couched in terms of preventing "extremist content" to infiltrate the minds of its own people, the truth is that Russia denotes any content it…
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