As part of new UK Government measures following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ofcom has been appointed as the enforcement authority for ensuring compliance with regulations imposing sanctions in respect of certain internet services in the UK.
Our job is to make sure:
- providers of internet access services take reasonable steps to prevent users in the UK from accessing, by means of that service, any internet service provided by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya;
- providers of social media services take reasonable steps to prevent content that is generated directly on their service, or uploaded to or shared on their service, by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya being encountered by a user in the UK; and
- providers of app stores through which an app for an internet service may be downloaded or otherwise accessed take reasonable steps to prevent users in the UK from downloading or otherwise accessing, by means of that service, any internet service provided by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya.
For these purposes, internet services provided by TV-Novosti include rt.com; internet services provided by Rossiya Segodnya include sputniknews.com.
If your complaint relates to a service provided – or content generated, uploaded or shared – by TV-Novosti or Rossiya Segodnya, you should report it to the internet access service, social media service or app store it was accessed from. Details on how to do this should be available on the service or app store’s website. You can also let us know by emailing us at russiasanctions@ofcom.org.uk.
Although we do not respond to individual complaints, the information you provide will help Ofcom monitor whether these companies are taking adequate steps to comply with the Government’s sanctions regime and will help determine if it is appropriate for us to take regulatory action.