Russia Fines Sites for Letting Users Log In via Google and Apple ID

The fresh legislation targets domestic websites and applications operating within the country that require user registration. Under the new rules, these platforms are strictly forbidden from offering quick-login options via foreign services. Instead, they must implement local alternatives, turning the simple act of logging in into a bureaucratic adventure.

To stay compliant and avoid getting financially wrecked, platforms must now verify their users through domestic phone numbers, the state-run Gosuslugi portal, the national biometric database, or any information system owned by a local citizen. Essentially, if a website wants to know who its users are, it has to ask the state first.

The financial penalties for disobeying are not exactly pocket change. First-time offenders among corporate entities face fines of up to 700,000 rubles, while repeat violations can skyrocket the penalty to 1.4 million rubles. Oddly enough, individual users who already created their accounts using foreign emails are safe from fines, as the law solely targets the platform owners who fail to remove the forbidden buttons.

This bizarre push for "technological sovereignty" effectively forces local web developers to choose between paying astronomical fees or acting as unpaid data collectors for national surveillance agencies. The dream of a global, seamless internet is being sliced up into state-approved cages, leaving one to wonder how long before entering an email address at all becomes a cybercrime.