The Main Radio Frequency Center (GRCHTs), subordinate to Roskomnadzor, proposed to oblige the owners of gaming platforms to store messages from gamers on the territory of Russia, according to the research of the GRCHTs.
The report says that “in order to prevent potential threats”, in particular, the dissemination of materials of an extremist nature, as well as the implementation of “control by authorized bodies”, it is necessary to introduce a number of legislative initiatives that regulate the esports and gaming industries. “This will make it possible to assign to the owner of the gaming platform the responsibility for storing information on the receipt, transmission, delivery and processing of voice information, written text, images, sounds, video or other electronic messages from network users on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the report says.
The need to extend the Yarovaya Law to gamers is explained in the report by the fact that games such as Among Us and Fortnite have actually become social networks, which generates “a possible negative impact on personal development, as well as the risk of using the gaming space for the purposes of agitation and radicalization, the spread of terrorism and extremism ”.
The Yarovaya Law (named after one of its authors – Irina Yarovaya) has been in effect since July 1, 2018, it obliges telecom operators to store data on conversations, messages and traffic of subscribers for a period not exceeding six months, as well as metadata about reception, transmission, delivery and processing of sms and calls – within three years. For the implementation of the law, special equipment is needed to store large amounts of information.
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