PRESS: Peskov says foreign IT firms must respect local rules

MOSCOW, Mar 30 (PRIME) -- Foreign IT companies must respect the regulations and rules of the country where they work, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told daily Argumenty I Fakty in an interview published on Tuesday.

“The president has repeatedly said that balance should be found between the priority of Internet freedom and its regulation as a growing part of life flows onto the Web. The more life is transferred there, the more regulations should be,” Peskov said.

“These should be same rules for all, including for foreign companies, because the Internet has no borders. Foreign firms must respect local regulations and rules in the countries where they work.”

Foreign platforms have often muted accounts of Russian media recently, the actions Russia’s Foreign Ministry strongly criticizes.

Peskov hopes that the situation would not deteriorate to blocking foreign Internet platforms, and ways to settle the conflict would be found. “Nobody wants a blanket ban, it would be foolish to advocate it. But we must force these companies to follow our rules,” he told the daily.

Speaking about the situation with blocking of Russian accounts by Twitter, the president’s press secretary said that if the company tells foreign colleagues that “it does not want to deal with politics, but just to work on the market and make money,” there will be no problems.

“Double standards, manipulation related to the military and political blocks, with anti-Russia propaganda, it is all evident. It should not be like that. It not tied to the company’s business, is it? No, it is related to the fact that these companies are exploited as a tool in the anti-Russia campaign,” Peskov said.

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