By Ekaterina Janashia | 2026-01-30

On January 1, the "delete" button stopped meaning what most Russians think it means. A message erased from a phone screen -- a joke shared in a private chat, a frustrated voice note, a late-night video call -- may now live on for three years in government-accessible archives.

Under a new federal mandate, internet platforms must store the full content of users' digital communications, including messages people believe they have permanently removed.

The shift marks a permanent change in daily life. What was once ephemeral now carries an expiration date measured in years. In practical terms, every Russian has entered a rolling, three-year digital memory, one accessible to state authorities on request.

The phrase "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows" once belonged to a 1950 Soviet song written by Dmitri Shostakovich with lyrics by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky. Intended as reassurance, it was famously hummed by Yuri Gagarin in orbit. In 2026, it reads less like poetry than a system requirement.

Expanded data mandate

The new rules take the form of amendments governing Information Distribution Organizers, or ORIs, a category that includes social networks, instant messengers and email services. While telecommunications operators have long been subject to strict retention requirements under the Yarovaya Law, the amendments extend comparable obligations to internet-based platforms.

Mandatory storage for all communication data now spans three years, up from one. The requirement covers not only metadata, such as who contacted whom and when, but the full content of communications: text messages, voice recordings, images and videos.

Crucially, service providers must retain messages even after users delete them. Authorized state bodies, including the Federal Security Service, may request access to the data, often without a court order. The result is a system in which deletion removes content from a user's screen but not from long-term storage.

The Center for Countering Disinformation warned that the law encourages widespread self-censorship.

"This forces people to self-censor, fearing to express their opinions even in private chats. In this way, the authorities are creating a digital state of fear, where control and intimidation become the main methods of governance," the organization reported.

'Anti-fraud' justification

Officials defend the expansion as a necessary response to rising cybercrime. The Ministry of Digital Development has pointed to a surge in phone and internet fraud, particularly schemes using IP telephony and social engineering to drain the bank accounts of retirees and other vulnerable citizens.

Authorities argue that the previous one-year retention limit was insufficient for complex investigations. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin made that case at a government meeting on December 24.

"It is necessary to continue creating effective methods and tools, including organizational, regulatory and technical, for combating fraud," he said. "It is very important that decent people be shielded from scammers."

The government says the law also formalizes rapid communication between mobile operators, banks and state agencies through an Anti-Fraud platform, expanding mechanisms for responding to suspicious calls.

Many Russians remain unconvinced.

On YouTube, a commenter using the handle @ElenaSofronova-v7y wrote: "Scammers rob people, those above protect them, and people are left without money -- only to be pressured even further and stripped of any rights. Wonderful…"

On VK, a user posting as Zapolyarye Murmanskoe reacted more bluntly: "The campaign against the population continues!!!"

Another user, Tatyana Tvk, summarized the new legal landscape in two words: "Total surveillance."

Price of surveillance

For the tech industry, the mandate presents a costly logistical challenge. Retaining petabytes of high-definition audio and video for three years requires a major expansion of server infrastructure.

The Big Data Association, which represents companies including Sber, Yandex and VK, warned that extending retention periods would "objectively increase the infrastructure load and operational expenses for companies." Yuri Shvydchenko, director of technology practice at TeDo, said corporate costs would rise "several times over."

According to Nikita Tsaplin, CEO of hosting provider RUVDS, compliance could consume between 1% and 5% of a service's annual revenue. He warned that companies would likely offset the burden by raising prices for users or partners.

Digital rights advocates see broader consequences.

Valeriy, a 37-year-old IT specialist from Moscow, said the law creates a permanent archive of dissent.

"If every word you've typed or said online in the last 1,000 days is sitting on a server, the pressure to self-censor becomes absolute," he told Kontur. "You aren't just watching what you say today; you're worrying about how a joke you made two years ago might be interpreted by a prosecutor tomorrow."

He added that mandatory retention of deleted messages effectively replaces the "right to be forgotten," a cornerstone of privacy in many Western jurisdictions, with what amounts to a state-enforced "right to be remembered."