Russia to probe Facebook, and could ban it if it doesn’t comply with local laws
Moscow — Russia’s telecoms watchdog plans to probe Facebook before the end of the year after blocking access in the country to the popular messaging app Telegram, its head said on Wednesday. "We will conduct a probe of the company before the end of 2018," the head of state regulator Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov told pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia. Russia’s telecoms regulator has repeatedly warned Facebook it could be banned this year unless it complies with a law on the personal data of Russian nationals. A 2014 law requiring foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside the country has caused widespread concern as it is seen as putting the information at risk of being accessed by Russian intelligence services. Zharov told Izvestia that Facebook still did not comply with the Russian legislation. "They are already significantly late in their deadlines and in complying with other laws," Zharov said, referring...
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