Russia Adds Apple and Microsoft to Oversight Registry, Requires Them to Hand Over User Communications on Request
Key Facts
Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, added Apple and Microsoft to its “information dissemination organizers” registry on October 2, 2026, according to the regulator’s database cited by Bloomberg. Listing requires covered companies to retain user communications and provide them to security agencies on request, according to Bloomberg. This places the two US companies within a Russian oversight framework linking platform classification to obligations concerning communications data. The move comes as the companies’ registered websites remain accessible in Russia, according to Russian media reports. The registry entries did not say whether the listing was voluntary or ordered by the regulator.
Microsoft is listed under number 593-РР and Apple under number 594-РР, according to Vedomosti. The registry entries show the companies’ corporate websites, without naming a specific service for either one. The newspaper said the registry does not clarify whether the companies joined voluntarily or were listed by regulatory order. RBC reported the same lack of clarity about how they were listed and said access to the websites included in the registry is unrestricted. The listing thus combines retention and disclosure obligations with continued access to the registered websites at the time the reports were published.
The obligations include retaining user communications and providing them to security agencies on request, according to Bloomberg. But the 3-year period applies to information about users and the transmission of their communications, which must be stored in Russia, 9to5Mac reported, citing Bloomberg. This information does not state that message content itself is subject to the same retention period. Reports cite separate obligations covering correspondence and voice or video messages, without specifying that the 3-year period applies to them. This distinction means that a stated retention period applies to user and transmission data, while the available information gives no equivalent period for message content.
Russia expanded the scope of US entities listed in the registry during 2026, according to Vedomosti. Google was added on January 26 through its Google Meet service, while the Apple and Microsoft entries list the companies’ websites rather than a specific service. The stated scope of the listings therefore differs: a specific communications service in Google’s case, and corporate websites in Apple’s and Microsoft’s cases. The comparison shows a widening range of entities and services in the registry, with obligations tied to the regulatory classification of information dissemination organizers. The reports provided no further details on whether obligations differ according to the type of listed service.
The online information dissemination organizers registry was established in 2014, according to RBC. The newspaper added that the relevant obligations for listed entities took effect on July 1, 2018, under what is known as the Yarovaya package. In July 2024, the government allowed Roskomnadzor to add companies on its own if a court establishes that they repeatedly failed to notify the regulator of their activities, according to RBC. This gives the regulator authority to list companies in the circumstances specified by the rule, while the Apple and Microsoft entries do not say whether this mechanism was used in their cases. RBC said access to the registered websites was unrestricted at the time of its report.
The move comes amid broader Russian restrictions on communications services, according to the Associated Press. The agency quoted a cybersecurity expert as saying that Russian law considers any platform that allows users to message one another an “information dissemination organizer.” It also reported that authorities banned calls on WhatsApp and Telegram before imposing restrictions on FaceTime. These measures provide context for the obligations the registry imposes on communications platforms, while the listed Apple and Microsoft websites remain accessible, according to Russian reports. The available evidence did not specify a date for further action involving the companies or a change to the status of their websites.
In trading, Apple closed at $331.9 per share and Microsoft closed at $520.99 on November 3, 2026, according to EL7 data. These prices provide a snapshot of the trading session following the listing date in the Roskomnadzor database; the evidence does not measure any change in either stock because of the decision. No documented prices for Google or Meta were included in the data provided. The sources also did not specify a later date for a new measure or a compliance deadline for Apple and Microsoft. The next step described in the reports remains implementation of the registry’s general obligations when security agencies make a request, with no announcement that the two websites would be blocked.