Russia Blocked LinkedIn After the Company Failed to Export Users’ Personal Data

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communication regulator recently began enforcing a LinkedIn ban all across the country because the network did not manage to transfer all Russian user data on national servers. The problem is that Russian law states that all online platforms that collect personal data must store it on servers from within the country, all companies who fail do so being banned.

LinkeIn officially confirmed the ban in a recent statement, declaring that the social media platform will continue to negotiate with Roskomnadzor. At the moment, the website has millions of Russian users and thousands of small company accounts.

The platform is currently undergoing changes as Microsoft acquired it for $26.2 billion, the merger coming with additional regulatory problems. LinkedIn representatives attempted to meet with Russian representatives on November 11^th, but their efforts were in vain as the IPS block is already in place.

Moreover, according to the official statement, LinkedIn did not even get to the meeting, Roskomnadzor preferring to review the social platform’s newest proposal in private.

At the moment, it is not clear if LinkedIn is trying to gain access to a national server or if it is desperately attempting to bypass the law.

However, this is not the first country to ask LinkedIn to host their data within the country. China’s law is similar to that of Russia, stopping online websites from storing sensitive data on international servers. In order to meet the country’s demands, LinkedIn built a different website.

According to Russian sources, LinkedIn is not the only website that is storing Russian data outside the country. An assortment of other international websites are available in the country, the government not doing anything to ban their activity.

The reasons why they chose to attack LinkedIn may be connected to the fact that the website, which currently hosts 5 million Russian users, was a token ban.

Russia blocked LinkedIn as a warning for other major social media players like Twitter and Facebook.

Google, Apple, and Evernote are among the companies who complied with the country’s regulations without much ado.

LinkedIn representatives will continue to try to speak with Roskomnadzor in an attempt to remove the ban. We will keep you posted on the outcomes.

Image source: Wikipedia