Roskomnadzor Prosecutes Journalists Who Criticize It
Daniel
2026-09-25
Read time
3 minutes
Roskomnadzor is actively prosecuting media outlets and Telegram channels that question its technical capabilities or the correct operation of its systems. The agency initiates lawsuits and fines for publications concerning equipment failures, blockages of popular services, and other controversial initiatives.
Fines for Doubting the Effectiveness of Blockages
In March 2026, media reports emerged claiming that special blocking equipment was overloaded and could not cope with restricting access to all prohibited websites. The agency stated that its systems were operating normally, after which a major business publication, its editor-in-chief Nikolay Mazurin, and several Telegram channels were fined a total of 370,000 rubles. Although some experts expressed doubts about the equipment overload, the courts still supported the regulator's position. Similarly, a publication and journalist Mikhail Shakhnazarov were previously fined for reporting failures in the blocking systems.
Controversial Statements on Replacing Foreign Content
Another reason for prosecution was publications about a proposal to replace foreign cartoons and games with domestic images. In the spring of 2026, media circulated statements by Andrey Tsyganov from the public council under the agency, who criticized school notebook covers featuring anime and superheroes, suggesting they be replaced with bogatyrs and military participants. Roskomnadzor stressed that the speaker was not its official employee. As a result, for spreading these statements, the publisher Ksenia Shardt and the head of an independent channel Sergey Aynbinder were fined 30,000 rubles each. Later, Tsyganov himself was early dismissed from the public council.
Threats of Blocking Gaming Services
In May 2026, the press reported on the regulator's lawsuits against seven major global game developers, including Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, and Epic Games, for failing to localize the personal data of Russian users. Journalists suggested that this could lead to the blocking of games, which caused sharp dissatisfaction from the agency, which hastened to deny such intentions. As a result, editor-in-chief Maxim Lukin was fined 60,000 rubles. At the same time, some platforms, such as Roblox, had indeed been temporarily blocked by the regulator on other grounds, and the professional network LinkedIn was blocked specifically under the data localization law.
Outages in the Banking System and Purchase of Surveillance Training
In the spring of 2026, journalists linked widespread outages in the operation of Russian banks with the tightening of blockades on bypass tools and messengers. The agency rejected these accusations, and for publications on this topic, media, editors, and channel owners were fined 440,000 rubles. Earlier, in 2025, the press reported on a state tender to train 11 employees in OSINT, behavioral profiling, and information warfare. For this information, in which the courts saw a threat to citizens' privacy, a number of publications and editors were fined 650,000 rubles, although the agency did not deny the fact of the tender itself.
False News near the Agency's Office and Registration of Channels
In February 2026, an old video with overlaid sound circulated online, showing a speech by deputy Sergey Mironov, who criticized the slowing down of messengers, allegedly being broadcast near the regulator's building. For publishing this video, several channels were fined 250,000 rubles. Another conflict arose in the autumn of 2025 over the requirement to add a special bot to register Telegram channels. Journalists wrote that the bot allows tracking subscribers. The agency stated that the bot does not have such functions and does not belong to it, although the messenger's technical documentation partially confirms experts' concerns. For these materials, a website administrator and editor-in-chief Eldar Murtazin were fined a total of 110,000 rubles.
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