Russian lawmakers enacted legislation that obliges tech giants to open local offices
A new statutory law that requires foreign sites with more than half a million daily users in Russia to set up a local branch or legal entity has passed by the parliament. The legislation obliges these websites to open their offices in Russia by January 2022. The new rules will notably affect US tech giants. Failure to comply with the legislation might result in their exclusion from search engine results, in banning from advertising in the country among other punitive measures. The law must still pass through the upper house of parliament and be ratified by President Vladimir Putin.