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Twitter, Viber, TikTok start complying with Russia’s localization law

In accordance with the new law, foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of more than 500,000 users must open their authorized representative offices in Russia

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. International IT companies Twitter, Viber, and TikTok started enforcing Moscow’s new rules on requiring foreign tech firms to localize their operations in the country, Deputy Chief of Russia’s media watchdog Vadim Subbotin said on Wednesday.

"We have companies that have begun to partially fulfill their main responsibilities. It includes TikTok - they registered a personal account, posted a feedback form, and informed us that they plan to open a representative office in Russia in the near future; Likeme Pte. Ltd. (Likee), which also posted a feedback form and also notified us of their plans to establish a Russian legal entity. Twitter registered a personal account, Zoom just yesterday sent us an application for registering a personal account, Viber did the same and literally sent us yesterday documents on creating a legal entity," he said.

Subbotin also listed the companies that have not yet begun to implement the law. "There also those companies that have not yet fulfilled their responsibilities. These are Google, Discord, Pinterest, Telegram, Meta, and Twitch," he said.

Subbotin specifically called on Pinterest to organize a meeting with Russia’s media watchdog. According to him, the meeting should take place as soon as possible - within a week. He also stated that Russia’s media watchdog is fully open to dialogue.

In accordance with the new law, foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of more than 500,000 users must open their authorized representative offices in Russia. The nation’s mass media watchdog has already published a list of companies that are required to open representative offices.

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