According to the adopted modifications, advertising in the media will be prohibited, as well as in any information resource of foreign agents. In addition, advertising of information resources by foreign agents themselves is prohibited.
The law applies to both natural and legal persons. Non-profit organizations (since 2012), media (since 2017) and individuals (since 2018) can be recognized as foreign agents in Russia. Since 2022, all categories of foreign agents have been combined into one register maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
The explanatory note to the document states that, according to information from the Russian Ministry of Justice, in 2023, more than 200 Russian individuals and legal entities placed advertisements for their goods and services on the information resources of foreign agents.
Violations will be punished with a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles for citizens and up to 500 thousand rubles for legal entities. After having been declared administratively responsible twice in one year, the act is covered by the Penal Code with a penalty of up to two years in prison.
At the same time, citing materials of foreign agents in the media will be considered a violation of the new rules only if the publication is of an advertising nature to increase the audience of such resources, said the head of the State Duma on Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Vasily Piskarev.
Experts say the law will be important for foreign bloggers, but it is unlikely to affect advertisers, advertising agencies and the vast majority of bloggers and influencers.
In early February, Roskomnadzor published on RuNet data on the turnover of the advertising market according to the results of 2023, including placements with foreign agents. The budget of Russian advertisers for advertising on Runet amounted to 563 billion rubles. Companies spent 133 million rubles on advertising with foreign agents, which is 0.023 thousandths of a percent of the total advertising market.
“We surveyed members of the Association of Bloggers and Agencies and found that no one has dramatically changed the content of contracts with bloggers, and no one has made any changes urgently. The only thing that is important to note is that for 2 years, Agencies have become “tougher” in relation to the clauses of force majeure agreements (for example, the same blocking of social networks),” Tatyana Ivanova, director of the agency Hello blogger, president of the Association of Bloggers and Agencies.
He also noted that any issue related to the recognition of a blogger as a foreign agent is resolved by all parties to the advertising campaign without conflict, in a constructive and business-like manner.
