Putin grants FSB power to demand telecom service suspensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law amendments requiring telecommunications operators to suspend communication services upon the demand of the Federal Security Service (FSB), with the specific circumstances to be defined through regulatory acts issued by the head of state.

According to the Russian media, the provisions are included in amendments to the law “On Communications.” Under the new rules, telecom operators will not be held liable for network disruptions if services are halted following an official FSB demand.

The legislation obliges operators to disconnect communication services in a range of situations requested by the security service, although the exact list of such cases will be determined later through presidential regulatory acts.

During its initial reading in the State Duma, the draft law allowed service suspensions based on an FSB “request.” However, prior to the second reading, lawmakers tightened the wording, replacing “request” with the stronger and mandatory term “demand,” thereby reinforcing the binding nature of the measure.

The amendment further broadens the authorities’ already extensive powers over public communications. Earlier, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor announced that it had begun slowing the operation of Telegram and had intensified restrictions affecting other platforms, including YouTube, WhatsApp and several media services.

Experts note that communication shutdowns across Russia have occurred regularly since June last year, officially justified by authorities as responses to Ukrainian drone attacks. Analysts say the new provision may partly aim to shield mobile operators from legal responsibility for service interruptions, while simultaneously formalising and expanding state control over communications during emergency or unspecified situations.

The revised law explicitly states that operators must suspend services “upon receipt of demands from FSB bodies in cases established by regulatory legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation.” As a result, communications could be legally shut down even in the absence of a publicly declared security threat.

By Tamilla Hasanova