The law on "landing" or what threatens large IT companies in the near future

On July 2, 2021, the Federal Law "On the activities of Foreign entities in the Internet Information and Telecommunications Network on the Territory of the Russian Federation", which is also known the Law on "Landing", came into force for the landing of large IT companies. The aim of this law is to equalize foreign and Russian companies operating on the Internet.

1. The persons for whom the Law will apply

The law applies to a foreign entity  -  the owner of a website; information systems; software, access to which exceeds 500,000 local users ( the Russian Federation) during the day, as well as if there is at least one of the following bindings: 

• to the language (the presence of a certain person on the information resource).
• to advertising (the presence of advertising aimed at Russian consumers);
• to the processing of personal data (processing of personal data of users located in the territory of the Russian Federation);
• to financing (availability of financing from Russian individuals).

The Law also applies to:

• foreign hosting providers;
• foreign advertising system operators;
• foreign entities who maintain the functioning of information systems and (or) software for receiving, transmitting, delivering and (or) processing electronic messages of Russian users.

At the same time, in order to verify the access requirement for more than 500,000 users during the day, a foreign entity will have to download special software offered by Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications on his resource.

2. Requirements for foreign entities

The following requirements will be applied to foreign entities:

• Open a branch, representative office or establish a Russian legal entity in the territory of the Russian Federation;
• Place an electronic form¹ on your website or in the software, for the treatment of Russian citizens and organizations;
• Register a personal account on the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications website.

3. Coercive measures provided for by law

The law establishes coercive measures that, in addition to foreign entities will also affect related companies: research operators, advertising distributors, advertisers, credit institutions, telecom operators, personal data operators, etc. since these companies will be forced to stop cooperation on many issues with foreign entities against which these measures have been applied.

The law established the following measures:

1. informing the users of the information resource of a foreign entity about the violation of the Law by a foreign entity;
2. prohibition on the distribution of advertising of a foreign entity and (or) its information resource as an object of advertising;
3. prohibition on the placement of advertising by third parties in the information resource of a foreign entity;
4. restriction of money transfers and acceptance of payments by individuals and legal entities in favor of a foreign entity;
5. ban on revealing in search results;
6. prohibition on the collection and cross-border transfers of personal data;
7. partial restriction of access to the information resource of a foreign entity;
8. complete restriction of access to the information resource of a foreign entity.

The main advantage of the new "landing" system of IT companies is that representative offices, branches and legal entities will be able to bear responsibility for violations of the Russian legislation by large foreign IT companies and fully interact with state authorities, which was tough before the adoption of this Federal Law. However, the introduced system also leaves a lot of unsolved issues. Should branches, representative offices and legal entities in Russia carry out operational activities? How will the responsibility be differentiated between a foreign company and its representative office in the Russian Federation? What percentage of participation is required for the "establishment" of a legal entity? It will be possible to solve them only after the practical implementation of the adopted developments.


¹The requirements for this form should be developed by the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications.