Roughly speaking, online platforms have now laid out the ingredients on the table, but have not given a recipe. There are parameters, but most importantly, what they do with these parameters and how and in what proportions they affect the recommendation feed - none of the companies disclose.
"I can't say that the user received australia whatsapp resource anything important from the law. Perhaps this was done in order to check (the methods of the company's recommendation algorithms - Ed.), but I don't think that Roskomnadzor will actively use this, especially with large businesses," Pavel Tarelkin suggested.
We don't prohibit, we just show
The regulation of recommendations has been under discussion since 2021. As one of the major Internet agencies recalls, deputies were always most concerned about anti-government content that could end up in users' feeds based on recommendation algorithms. "Remember the protests of 2021. Back then, the entire feed of now-banned networks was filled with videos of rallies - naturally, they decided to get acquainted with the inner workings of how this ends up in the feeds and control this process," they told Fontanka.
One of the preliminary versions of the bill proposed obliging owners of information resources to give users the opportunity to refuse recommendation technologies, either fully or partially. The initiative was opposed by owners of social networks and search engines, including VK and Yandex.
"If we ban recommendation algorithms, it will roll back all services twenty years. It will simply be inconvenient for us to use them. And data will be collected without recommendation algorithms - for the same advertising," Pavel Tarelkin, CEO of the digital agency Uplab, explained to Fontanka.
Ultimately, online platforms got off easy. In October, amendments were made to the Federal Law "On Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection." The adopted amendments require the publication of rules for the use of algorithmic information. They must include a description of the processes and methods for collecting data, systematizing and analyzing it, as well as methods for implementing such processes and methods for targeting user requests.
"The main requirement of the new law is the transparency of the use of recommendation technologies. Owners of websites and applications that use the recommendation mechanism must now explain to the user the principles by which it works, what data it collects, and how it is processed. All of this must be reflected in the rules, written in simple and understandable Russian," Anton Gorelkin, the author of the bill and a member of the Information Policy Committee, told Fontanka.
Now, if a resource does not inform users about the principle by which their recommendations work, or if these technologies are used to distribute prohibited information, then Roskomnadzor can intervene. That is, it can demand access to software and hardware and check how the recommendations work.
If violations are found, the owner is given ten days to eliminate them. Otherwise, first a ban on the use of recommendation technologies, then blocking. At the same time, the new requirements do not apply to state information systems and government agencies. But they will affect foreign ones, as Anton Gorelkin confirmed to Fontanka. However, whether Roskomnadzor will subordinate Google or YouTube is a big question, market players believe. Even more interesting is whether the adopted changes will untie the regulator's hands.
"The law is mandatory for all websites and applications that use the recommendations functionality. Including foreign ones. I am sure that the regulator will use its broad powers in such a way as to prevent an imbalance in law enforcement in relation to Russian platforms," Anton Gorelkin assured Fontanka.