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New messenger user identification rules will not affect Russian market, expert says

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. The Russian government’s decree on messenger user identification by phone number will affect the activities of neither messaging services nor mobile operators, Chairman of the Digital Economic Development Fund’s Council and former Russian Presidential Internet Adviser German Klimenko former Russian Presidential Internet Adviser German Klimenko told TASS.

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Russian PM approves messenger user identification by phone number

"They will not be affected in any way. What effect did the ‘blogger law’ have on the market? There was no effect because the law did not tackle the most important things," he said.

According to Klimenko, all companies active in Russia must abide by the country’s legislation regardless of where they are registered but the situation with messengers is more complicated. He said that the new rules were aimed at foreign messengers, particularly WhatsApp and Telegram, which had been ignoring Russian laws.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier signed a decree introducing messenger user identification by phone number, which will take effect in six months.

According to the document, messaging services will now have to verify registration data through mobile operators who are obliged to provide subscriber information within 20 minutes upon receiving a request from a messenger. In the event that a mobile operator fails to provide user information within the specified timeframe or cites a lack of such information, the identification will be considered invalid.

Mobile operators will be obliged to include information about the apps their subscribers use into their databases, as well as users’ unique identification codes. In addition, mobile operators will also have to inform messengers’ administration within 24 hours in case a contract with a user is terminated. After that, the user will have to be re-identified in the messaging service.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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