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Russian media watchdog urges foreign Internet companies to count blog readers

Under the Russian law, bloggers whose Internet pages are daily visited by more than 3,000 users, should comply with requirements applicable to the mass media

MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russian communications watchdog hopes to reach an agreement with foreign Internet companies on disclosing data on the number of blog readers, Roscomnadzor chief said on Wednesday.

“We have practically discussed and settled all the issues with domestic platforms. The issue is linked to foreign ones such as Twitter and Facebook, and to a lesser degree with YouTube and Instagram,” Alexander Zharov said on the sidelines of the Russian Interactive Week (RIW) 2014 Internet conference.

The Russian authority continues talks with the Internet companies and “remains tolerant” as the issue is not related to illegal content.

“We are writing letters to them and ther answer is that they don’t have calculators,” Zharov said, adding that he is confident that major companies do have such calculators.

The official said the issue could be resolved during a meeting with the leadership of the companies due to be held by the end of the year or in early 2015.

Under the Russian law, which entered into force on August 1, bloggers whose Internet pages are daily visited by more than 3,000 users, should comply with requirements applicable to the mass media. The law also introduces such terms as “organizer of information distribution” in the Internet.