The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO), which introduce administrative fines for deliberately searching online for materials recognized as extremist. The news has been confirmed by Kremlin sources.
Now, searching for publications from the “extremist materials” list maintained by the Ministry of Justice (currently about 5,500 entries), including searching through VPN, will result in individuals paying a fine of up to 3,000–5,000 rubles. That is, if a user is found to have deliberately accessed such materials using special tools, they will not be able to avoid paying the fine.
Another important update — a large fine has also been established for advertising VPN services. If individuals promote this service, the fine will be 50,000–80,000 rubles; for officials, 80,000–150,000 rubles; for legal entities, 200,000–500,000 rubles.
At the same time, simply using VPN is not yet considered an offense, but if the tool is used specifically “to evade responsibility” or to conceal illegal actions, this will be regarded as an aggravating circumstance.
For information: On July 17, the State Duma adopted and approved amendments in several readings providing punishment for searching extremist materials. The voting results were: 306 deputies “in favor,” 67 “against,” and 22 abstained.
This news shows that responsibility for internet activity in Russia has become even stricter, especially regarding content that is banned or controlled by the state. The new law will come into force on September 1, 2025.
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