In August 2026, significant changes are brewing in the Russian legislative landscape regarding the regulation of digital technologies. The Working Group of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Codification of Civil Legislation has prepared a package of amendments to the law on artificial intelligence and the Civil Code. The main goal of the initiative is to radically change the approach to labeling generated content, turning it from a recommendation into a strict imperative requirement.
From Voluntary to Compulsory: The Essence of the Changes
According to the prepared documents, it is proposed to remove the previously existing concessions that allowed users and companies to independently decide whether to place a warning about the use of neural networks when creating images, audio, or video. In the new version, the obligation to label becomes unconditional. The procedure, content, and exact format of such tags will be determined by the authorized state body. Although the specific department that will take on these functions is not yet named in the text of the document, it is expected to be the relevant ministry or digital market regulator.
Technical Implementation and Entry into Force
It is important to note the difference between current and proposed norms. The current version of the law places only a technical obligation on large platforms with an audience of more than 500,000 people to provide users with the opportunity to place corresponding marks. The new initiative changes the paradigm: now the tag must be a mandatory attribution for any generated content. The entry into force of these new norms is scheduled for March 1, 2027, giving businesses and developers about seven months to adapt infrastructure and algorithms.
Criticism from Business and Experts
Representatives of the technology sector and relevant experts have already reacted skeptically to the working group's proposal. The main argument of critics is the premature nature and technical unfeasibility of such measures under current conditions. According to market participants, mandatory tags will not become a panacea against malicious deepfakes. Malicious actors will continue to use foreign resources and tools not subject to Russian jurisdiction to create fake materials.
Contradictory Data
There is a clear contradiction between the goals of legislators and efficiency assessments from the industry. On the one hand, the initiative is aimed at creating a transparent digital environment and protecting citizens from disinformation. On the other hand, experts point out that instead of fighting real threats (deepfakes), the new rules will create excessive administrative barriers and legal uncertainty for domestic services and platforms. Businesses fear that this could slow down the development of the legal generative AI market without solving the problem of criminal use of technologies.
