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Over 500 Russian bloggers given media status — paper

Widely known as the "bloggers law", the legislation requires users of any website whose posts are read by more than 3,000 people each day to submit to the same regulations as mass media

© EPA/ITAR-TASS

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Law requiring registration for bloggers takes effect in Russia on Friday

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. More than 500 Russian politicians and other famous figures have been given a new status for their personal online pages, nearly ten months after a new law requiring popular online voices to register with the government came into effect last year, Russia’s Izvestia newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Vadim Ampelonsky, a spokesman for Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor told Izvestia that at the same time, some Internet platforms which ignored the regulator’s requirements had to pay fines.

"As of today, more than 500 people have registered themselves as bloggers which have more than 3,000 visitors daily and comply with requirements applicable to mass media," Ampelonsky said, noting that there were many famous politicians among them, "nearly half of them".

"As for fines, there have been two or three cases," he added. "They have affected not bloggers themselves but Internet platforms where accounts of particular bloggers are hosted."

Widely known as the "bloggers law", the legislation, which came into force on August 1, 2014, requires users of any website whose posts are read by more than 3,000 people each day to register with the authorities, disclose personal information and submit to the same regulations as mass media. Violators could incur fines of up to 50,000 roubles and be blacklisted.

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