The State Duma refuted the plans of the Ministry of Digital Transformation to develop regulations for the work of bloggers

The Ministry of Digital Development does not propose or develop norms for regulating the activities of bloggers. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Anton Gorelkin.

“The Ministry of Digital Development does not propose or develop any regulation for bloggers,” — wrote he is in his Telegram channel, commenting on the publication RBC.

Gorelkin doubted the necessity of adopting such laws. He noted that influencers who came under investigation due to non-payment of taxes “are not judged as bloggers, but as entrepreneurs.” The deputy recalled that attempts to legally regulate the work of bloggers “have already passed.” According to him, the idea of ​​registering influencers as mass media or introducing a separate code for them in OKVED will also not work.

“It’s not because they don’t have blogging code that they avoid paying taxes, it’s because, let’s be honest, greed. And you can’t come up with laws against it, ”concluded Gorelkin.

The day before, May 4, RBC, citing the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development reportedthat the department proposed to develop rules for regulating the activities of bloggers. “The sphere of bloggers is not regulated in any way and this issue requires a separate study. For regulation, for example, it is necessary to establish what is meant by the term “blogger” and what their activities include. In addition, an authorized body exercising control should be determined, ”the ministry said in a statement.

The department noted that bloggers, like any other citizens of Russia, are subject to Russian laws that relate to the specifics of the dissemination of information on the Internet and provide for liability for the publication of prohibited information.

In the spring, criminal cases were initiated in Russia due to non-payment of taxes against several influencers at once. In March, they came under investigation Valeria Chekalina (known under the pseudonym Lerchek) and Alexandra Mitroshina. The bloggers’ debt to the state is 311 million rubles. and 120 million rubles. respectively. In April, a criminal case was opened against Elena Blinovskaya. She accused in non-payment of taxes in the amount of 918 million rubles.