A new law that came into force in 2021 imposes new obligations on popular foreign websites and social media platforms with over half a million daily users, obliging them to register legal entities in Russia, essentially “grounding” the companies and placing them more firmly under Russian jurisdiction. In 10 simple questions and answers, Russian digital rights group Roskomsvoboda explains the possible repercussions of the new “grounding” legislation. RuNet Echo translates these for the Global Voices audience. On 16 February, 2022 Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor announced that by the end of the month it would consider the issue of sanctions targeting companies that have not yet begun to comply with the demands of the “hostage-taking” law. From January 1, 2022 owners of foreign information and social media websites with a daily audience of over 500,000 Russian users, are required to: – create a local subsidiary, headquarters or legal entity able to represent them in the Russian Federation; – register an official company account with the Roskomnadzor website; – publish on their website an electronic feedback form for Russian citzens and organizations. According to an explanatory note appended to the new law, platforms like Facebook and Twitter don't have official headquarters on Russian soil. Even Google LLC and Apple Rus LLC , which operate in Russia, are not official legal representatives of their parent companies. Meanwhile, de-facto the websites and platforms of foreign IT companies are used by Russian citizens, who are provided with services (including paid ones or in exchange for viewing advertising targeted at a Russian audience) and whose personal data is being processed. The law expects the local subsidiaries to bear responsibility when tech giants violate the norms of Russian legislation, to interact with the local state agencies, and to limit the dissemination of information that violates Russian laws in the Russian Federation. The law introduces a fairly broad range of requirements and measures that can limit or complicate the activities of foreign technology companies in Russia. Adhering to them will create additional risks, fiscal and financial pressure connected, for instance, with opening subsidiaries in the Russian Federation. Certainly, these requirements will simplify the interactions between regulatory bodies and foreign companies. But if full compliance with Russian laws demands expenses that are incompatible with the revenue from the local market, many foreign tech companies may simply choose to leave. The law will have unexpectedly dire consequences for non-profit projects, such as Wikipedia, though they're not on the radar as the target of the regulations. First of all, the new norms demand the creation of a legal office in Russia (i.e., retain lawyers to represent companies in courts); a non-profit like Wikipedia simply doesn't have funding for this, according to its spokesperson. Secondly, if Wikipedia's Russian subsidiary requires so much personnel, it will necessitate funding from abroad, which will automatically lead to the NGO being labelled a “foreign agent,” preventing it from doing any useful work in the country. Experts believe that Russian authorities can penalize local offices in cases where their parent companies fail to comply with various demands, for instance, failing to introduce political censorship and block posts and content that state officials find unacceptable. On November 22, 2021 state regulator Roskomnadzsor published a list of technology and internet companies who fall under the new law. Currently, it includes 13 foreign companies: As of February 16 only Apple and Spotify have fully fulfilled the regulator's demands. Twitter has registered an official company account on Roskomnadzor's website, whereas TikTok, Likeme (Likee) and Viber have both opened company accounts with Roskomnadzor and placed electronic feedback forms on their websites. Besides this, TikTok has begun the process of creating a legal entity for an office in Russia, Likeme has forwarded the paperwork for creating a Russian legal entity, and Viber has sent evidence of opening a Russian office to Roskomnadzor (though the paperwork didn't satisfy the regulator's requirements). Companies that have currently not fulfilled any of the new demands include Google, Meta/Facebook, Telegram, Zoom, Discord, Pinterest, and Twitch. However, Zoom has allegedly expressed their willingness to do so. Two other foreign companies — gaming platform Wargaming and online shopping giant AliExpress — are not currently on Roskomnadzor's list, but both have preemptively registered legal entities in Russia.