Russia will address Internet firms' concerns about meeting a deadline to comply with a law forcing them to move the personal data of Russian citizens onto servers inside the country, a Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.
Under a law last year, Internet sites that store the personal data of Russian citizens must do so on Russian servers from September. Moscow has said the law is aimed at protecting the personal data but critics see it as an attack on social networks.
Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday that the Association of European Businesses (AEB) lobby group had asked President Vladimir Putin to push back the date from which firms will be held liable if they do not comply to September 2016.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed a proposal had been made to push back the deadline and that Putin had ordered a review of whether businesses should have more time to comply.
"At a meeting with the heads of large companies and international groups at the St Petersburg forum, indeed, this topic was raised. And indeed, given the concerns expressed by some representatives, the president gave instructions to find out to what extent this concern is justified," he said.
"The question is being studied... There is no final decision yet as far as I know," Peskov told reporters.
The AEB declined to comment.
