Russia’s Duma Sets Fines for Websites Using Foreign Login Services Russia’s latest internet crackdown doesn’t change how Russians log in so much as who ultimately holds the keys — and this time, the message is blunt: foreign tech out, state control in.

The State Duma has now attached teeth to its earlier ban on login via foreign services like Google and Apple ID. Individuals who run sites face fines of 10,000–20,000 rubles, company officials 30,000–50,000, and legal entities a stinging 500,000–700,000 rubles for allowing foreign login services. Three years after banning Gmail-based registration, lawmakers are finally enforcing what one outlet calls a long-delayed penalty regime for “noncompliance.”

The Kremlin’s logic vs. the opposition’s alarm

Pro-government deputies have sold this package as “digital sovereignty” and a shield against fraud and foreign interference, folding it into broader rules that push Russian websites toward domestic TLS certificates and stricter control over hosting for VPN traffic. In their telling, routing identity and encryption through Russian infrastructure simply brings order to a chaotic, foreign-dominated web.

Opposition-leaning media paint a different picture: a steady nationalization of the login screen. Novaya-Europe bluntly summarizes that “owners of Russian websites are forbidden to authorize visitors through foreign services and use foreign certificates,” asking how this will hit ordinary users and small businesses now forced onto state-approved tools. Meduza stresses the continuity of the squeeze, framing the move as the moment “Russia’s State Duma finally sets fines for noncompliance” after years of tightening registration rules.

Same goal, escalating methods

Both sides agree on the trajectory: less reliance on Google, Apple, and foreign CAs; more dependence on Russian infrastructure. Where they diverge is the endgame. Supporters see sovereignty. Critics see a login system that doubles as a control grid — one more lever the state can pull, now backed not just by code and censorship, but by fines that can hurt.