On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia’s online news environment, given news aggregators’ function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law ‘On news aggregators’ exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.

2017年1月1日，俄罗斯联邦法律（№208-FZ）生效，该法律要求新闻聚合者对传播假新闻承担责任。但是，与来自注册媒体（国家管制的类别）的新闻条目的链接不承担责任。结果，诸如Yandex News之类的新闻聚合者已经修改了其算法，以避免提出法律要求。本文认为，该法律建立了一种间接媒体控制机制，使俄罗斯国家可以通过现有的媒体法规结构来影响在线新闻传播。考虑到新闻聚合者充当将流量引向新闻网站的算法看门人的功能，它从概念上说明了该机制可以影响俄罗斯在线新闻环境中媒体多元化的五种方式。