ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — In May, a group of Russian lawmakers introduced a bill that could strengthen regulations of messengers via new stricter identification measures.
"I think that costs would be significant and the outcome would be minimal. People, violating laws would find a lot of ways to continue such activities on the platforms that would not be linked to classical messengers. Law-abiding citizens would use WhatsApp and other messengers if the regulation measures are introduced," Andrey Tsarikovskiy said ahead of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
At the same time, the official said that draft legislation banning anonymizers and VPN services that allow Internet users to receive information from blocked websites would be more effective.
"I think that this bill is more effective, it is more specific. It will not be universal for the digital economy, because generally, a man has nothing to hide," Tsarikovskiy added, answering a question about the development of Russia's digital sector if the bill is adopted.
Russia's city of St. Petersburg hosts the 21st SPIEF that will continue through Saturday, gathering high-ranking politicians and business leaders from dozens of countries. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is the official media partner of the forum.
