The head of Roskomnadzor for the first time came under EU sanctions

The HEAD of Roskomnadzor Andrey Lipov is included in the sixth package of EU sanctions.The European authorities called the department itself “the central tool for censorship and the suppression of free media in Russia” Andrey Lipov

The European Union has included the head of Roskomnadzor Andrey Lipov on the sanctions list. This is stated in the list of restrictions included in the sixth package of sanctions against RUSSIA and Belarus published in the official journal of the EU.

The “reasons” column states that “Roskomnadzor is the central instrument for exercising censorship and suppressing free media in Russia.” Lipov, as the head of the department, "is responsible for the decisions that led to the censorship and closure of independent Russian media," the document says.

Lipov was appointed head of Roskomnadzor in March 2020, replacing Alexander Zharov at this post. Prior to that, Lipov headed the presidential administration for the development of information and communication technologies and communications infrastructure, which, in particular, was responsible for developing bills on the "sovereign Internet" and on limiting the share of foreign participation in companies that own significant Russian sites. He also worked in the department of state policy in the field of informatization and information technology of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications (now the Ministry of Digital Development), in particular, he was the deputy head of the development programs department, the head of the information technology department, and also the deputy DIRECTOR of the department.

Roskomnadzor told RBC that the imposition of sanctions “will not affect Lipov and the department in any way.”

In the past two years, Roskomnadzor began to slow down the traffic of foreign social networks, in particular Twitter, blocked the largest platforms Instagram and FACEBOOK (their owner, Meta, was recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), as well as the websites of a number of Russian media. The implementation of the so-called Landing Law has also begun, according to which foreign it companies with a daily audience of more than 500,000 users are required to open a branch, an authorized legal entity or a representative office in Russia.

The department explained the blocking of both social networks and the media by the requirements of the Prosecutor General's Office and the current legislation. For example, the former head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov spoke about restrictions on the dissemination of extremist information: “Roskomnadzor, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, is obliged to ensure the blocking of such resources and pages on social networks and take measures to remove illegal information. And do it immediately.”

Under the new EU sanctions , Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh, chairman of the board of directors of the National Media Group, Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva, owner of the Independent Oil and Gas Company (NOC) Eduard Khudainatov, wife and children of the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, several columnists RIA Novosti and several dozen Russian servicemen.

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