While there is a safe harbour for copyright infringement under Federal Law No. 187-FZ, "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Information and Telecommunication Networks", the country lacks a safe harbour for activities beyond copyright infringement. According to Art. 13.34 of Federal Law No. 18-FZ, "On Amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences" (introduced in 2017), ISPs that fail to block banned sites as instructed by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) are liable to fines ranging from RUB 100,000 to RUB 500,000 (approx. USD 1,600 – USD 8,500). Officials of these legal entities (ISPs) face fines between RUB 5,000 and RUB 30,000 (approx. USD 85 – USD 500) for non-compliance with Roskomnadzor’s directives. If such violations are repeated within a year, penalties increase to RUB 30,000–RUB 50,000 (approx. USD 500 – USD 850) for officials and RUB 500,000–RUB 800,000 (approx. USD 8,500 – USD 13,500) for ISPs.

Law No. 97-FZ and the corresponding government decrees, Decree No. 758 and Decree No. 801, have established several requirements regarding the identification of Wi-Fi users in public places, such as parks, hotels, cafeterias, restaurants, clubs, cinemas and shopping malls, among others. The Act and the decrees require that
- ISPs must identify Internet users by means of identity documents (such as passports);
- ISPs must identify terminal equipment by determining the unique hardware identifier of the data network;
- All legal entities in Russia must provide ISPs on a monthly basis with the list of persons connecting to the Internet using their network.

Amendments introduced by Federal Law No. 241 prohibit the anonymous use of instant message (“IM”) services. Providers are obliged to identify users of the instant messaging service by the subscriber number of the mobile radiotelephone operator in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation, on the basis of an identification agreement concluded by the organiser of the instant messaging service with the mobile radiotelephone operator.

According to Art. 1253, intermediaries are not liable for third-party content unless they knew or ought to have known that infringing material was being used illegally on their service. It is reported that the article contains a “constructive knowledge” clause that may incentivise intermediaries to monitor their services in order to locate “illegal” material.

In December 2022, Russia signed a law requiring platforms to monitor content and remove “LGBT propaganda,” adding this term to the list of information that is illegal to distribute online. In April and October 2022, the platform Tik Tok was fined for refusing to remove “LGBT propaganda” and promoting “homosexual relations.”

The amendments introduced by Federal Law No. 276 prohibit internet intermediaries from providing access to websites and information resources that are designated as “resources with restricted access” by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor). The Law requires Roskomnadzor to create a national information database of online resources and services to which access is prohibited in Russia. Internet service providers (ISPs) will be required to identify those owners of resources who do not block access to prohibited online resources and report them to the Roskomnadzor within three days. Operators of online search engines are required to block links to websites included in the database of prohibited online resources. If the owner of the network or information resource continues to ignore the requirement to block access to restricted websites, its Internet connection can be terminated by the ISP within 24 hours.

Art. 18.5 of Federal Law No. 152-FZ provides that during personal data collection, including through the Internet, the data operator shall ensure that databases located within the Russian Federation are used to record, systematise, accumulate, store, update, modify and retrieve personal data of Russian citizens. However, the requirements do not apply to companies that do not receive the data directly from either data subjects or such third parties or inadvertently in the course of normal business activity. Moreover, provided that personal data, when initially collected, is placed in a primary database located and maintained in Russia, personal data contained in the database may then be transferred abroad and placed in other secondary databases, provided the requirements for data transfers are complied with. As a result, once personal data is collected, it shall be placed in the database located in Russia (i.e., the primary database). All mentioned operations on the data should be carried out locally. Afterwards, the data can be transferred abroad for further processing (i.e., to the secondary database).
It is reported that since 2015, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has been active in enforcing the above-mentioned measure. For instance, in November 2016, subject to the claim from Roskomnadzor, the court in Moscow restricted access to the LinkedIn social network due to the breach of the measure. Further cases mostly included administrative fines, which were also issued to major multinational companies, including Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.), Twitter, Inc. and later WhatsApp LLC, Google LLC, Airbnb, Inc., Apple, Inc., Twitch Interactive, Inc., United Parcel Service, Inc., Pinterest, Inc., Likeme Pte. Ltd., Ookla, LLC., Snap Inc., Match Group, LLC, Hotels.com, L.P., Spotify AB, and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Some companies also faced repeated higher fines.
The Code of Administrative Offences establishes fines of up to RUB 6 million (approx. USD 64,620) for the first offence and up to RUB 18 million (approx. USD 193,860) for the subsequent offence.

Art. 30.6.4 of Federal Law No. 161-FZ requires that foreign-based credit card companies transmit data for all transactions within Russia through state-owned operators: the National System of Payment Cards. It is reported that this affects the possibility for financial supplies to use their processing facilities located outside of Russia.

Russia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Russia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Federal Law No. 374 allows Russian security services to request that internet companies hand over their encryption keys. Firms who do not comply with these orders risk having their services blocked in the country, as happened to the messaging app Telegram, which remained blocked in Russia for approximately 2 years. Other messaging apps, such as Zello, BlackBerry Messenger, Imo, Line, and Vchat, were blocked for the same reason.

Federal Law of July 29, 2004, on Commercial Secrecy and Russian Civil Code provide a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. The Civil Code (Part 4) regulates issues associated with trade secrets. Any unlawful use of a trade secret, including unlawful receipt or disclosure of the trade secret, constitutes trade secret infringement. Additionally, the Federal Law of July 29, 2004, on Commercial Secrecy defines trade secrets as any type of information (e.g. production, technological, economic, organisational, etc.) that is not generally known to which the general public does not have open access, and with respect to which the owner of such information has instituted the regime of trade secrecy.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Russia to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

It is reported that the Russian Government holds a 38% stake in Rostelecom, a major telecommunications company and one of the largest operators in Russia and Eastern Europe. Rostelecom provides extensive services such as fixed-line telecommunications, broadband internet, digital television, and mobile services, alongside IT solutions, cloud services, and data centre operations. As a state-owned enterprise, Rostelecom plays a crucial role in shaping Russia's telecommunications infrastructure and digital economy.

Russia lacks rules for functional separations for operators with significant market power, although there are rules in place for accounting separation. Under Ministry for Digital Development, Connection, and Mass Communications Order 54, dated May 2006, operators that hold substantial positions in publicly available networks and operators of universal services and natural telecoms monopolies must keep separate accounts for different types of activity; provided services; and different sections of the telecoms network used for the provision of such services. In addition, Russian competition laws also provide for forced separation as a last resort measure that may be implemented by a court at the request of antitrust authorities with respect to a dominant market player that systematically abuses its dominant position.