The State Duma denied the introduction of responsibility for the use of VPNs

The State Duma has never discussed a complete ban on VPN services and the imposition of liability for its violation. This was announced on March 31 by Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Information Policy.

"A complete ban on VPNs and the imposition of liability for its violation have never been discussed in the State Duma," he wrote on his channel in the MAX messenger.

Gorelkin noted that legislative initiatives were developed in order to penalize VPN if crimes are committed with its help. He also agreed with the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, noting that the introduction of administrative responsibility for such services is a head—on option.

"I really hope that the Ministry of Digital Development will be able to find a compromise solution to the problem. It arose solely because of the unwillingness of some foreign platforms to comply with Russian legislation, and what the citizens are to blame for is a rhetorical question," he concluded.

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The day before, Shadaev, in a letter to the We — IT association, noted that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is implementing the task of reducing the use of VPNs, while the agency "categorically does not like the idea of introducing administrative responsibility for the use of virtual networks." He added that for a long time they tried to negotiate with foreign platforms that were banned on meeting legislative requirements, but "to no avail."

At the same time, it was reported that the Ministry of Finance also discussed with telecom operators the possibility of temporarily suspending payments for Apple services from mobile phone accounts. The agencies' claims relate to non-compliance with Roskomnadzor's requirements to remove VPN services, which account for more than 80% of all transactions in the Russian segment of the AppStore.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.