What is really going on with Russia's new internet laws .

On paper, Russia’s new laws on data storage seem to make business impossible for big internet companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and a wider range of online businesses.

Following their summer break, Duma Deputies are back at work, busy drafting new laws concerning Russia’s internet (often called the RuNet). Federal Law242-FЗ ‘On the introduction of amendments into separate legal acts of the Russian Federation defining the order of personal data processing in the information and telecommunication networks’ (Federal Law 152-FЗ), which restricts to the territory of the Russian Federation, the collection, retention, processing, and storage of Russian citizens’ personal data by internet operators, has been signed off. Similarly, Federal Law 97-FЗ, (known as the ‘law on bloggers’) requires that ‘operators of information dissemination’ store user data for at least six months and provide law enforcement agencies with information on user metadata. This law in particular presents quite a challenge for internet giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Facebook's growing popularity in Russia has attracted the interest of the country's legislators.