The State Duma banned advertising on blocked resources

The State Duma approved in the third reading a bill prohibiting the placement of advertising on resources blocked in Russia. The maximum penalty for violation will be 500 thousand rubles. The amendments will not affect the significant number of market participants, most likely they will affect small businesses and bloggers, which did not change the promotion channels in time. Experts also do not exclude growth in advertising in Telegram and VKontakte within 20-30%.

March 25 in the State Duma were accepted In the second and third readings, amendments to the Federal Laws “On Combating Extremist Activities” and “On Advertising”, which establish a ban on advertising on the resources of organizations recognized as prohibited and undesirable in Russia, as well as on any sites that are limited. So, among the forbidden social networks, Facebook and Instagram stand out (belonging to META, recognized in the Russian Federation and prohibited), as well as X (previously Twitter), blocked in the Russian Federation since 2022. New requirements will enter into force on September 1, 2025.

In addition, amendments prohibit advertising on the resources of unwanted organizations, including the Rain, Medusa and The Moscow Times (all organizations are included in the list of foreign agents of the Ministry of Justice). A similar ban is valid for advertising by persons announced in Russia by foreign agents. Fines for violation of the ban for individuals will amount to from 2 thousand to 2.5 thousand rubles, for officials – from 4 thousand to 20 thousand rubles, for legal entities – from 100 thousand to 500 thousand rubles. Project was introduced to the State Duma in the middle of last year. FAS will control the implementation of the law.

Participants in the advertising market are afraid of the increase in the cost of integration in social networks allowed for work. For example, the cost of accommodation on VKontakte and Telegram can grow by 20-30% in the coming months, says Biznesinalogi founder Evgenia Memoral: “Influence Marketing Market (promotion through opinions. « Kommersant ») In the short term, on the contrary, it can be reduced by 15–20%. ” She estimates the total losses of bloggers and brands that are active in prohibited social networks.

However, the CEO of AO CROS Yekaterina Movsesyan does not agree with this: « The advertising market in social networks has stabilized quite well. » She adds that bloggers are likely to place advertisements in the inconspicuous channels and, accordingly, only bloggers who did not duplicate their assets in other social networks in time can feel losses. VK did not respond to a request.

Large advertisers have not been working with a prohibited social network for a long time, but the amendments can affect representatives of the small business, the NMI Digital press service notes. They also see risks for bloggers with their own products, since their advertising should be accompanied by marking. « Influensers are losing a platform where they could actively and legally promote them. » Accommodation in prohibited social networks was not marked after their departure from the Russian Federation or blocking, that is, it is impossible to make a clear understanding on specific channels and budget volumes, adds Stepan Gevorkyan, procurement director of Centra.

“With the introduction of new norms and prohibitions, we expect that a significant part of the budgets for promoting bloggers in prohibited social networks will go to Telegram,” said Vladimir Mosin, director of the Native Advertising of Telega.in. As a result, the growth rate of the advertising market in Telegram channels can accelerate by 1.5 times in 2025.

Oleg Kozyritsky, Julia Yurasova