Russia's Top Investigator Proposes AI, VPN and Other Technologies as Aggravating Circumstances in Criminal Code
Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, has proposed amending the Criminal Code to classify the use of artificial intelligence, VPN services and other information technologies as an aggravating circumstance in criminal cases.
The committee has already drafted the corresponding bill, Bastrykin told Interfax. At present, the Criminal Code contains no universal norm that would allow courts to take into account the application of such tools when determining punishment.
According to Bastrykin, these technologies are increasingly helping offenders achieve their objectives, from fraud and illegal circulation of personal data to terrorism, murder and sexual offences.
The head of the Investigative Committee considers it ineffective to insert separate references to AI, proxy servers and similar tools into dozens of individual articles of the Criminal Code. By the time legislators list specific technologies, the IT sector will have changed several times and the wording will have become outdated.
Instead, the committee advocates a systemic solution: recognising the use of technology as a standalone aggravating factor. The new provision would apply only when the technology served as the principal instrument of the crime or enabled a substantial increase in the harm inflicted, for example by scaling cyber fraud or organising the illegal trade in personal data.
Bastrykin emphasised that the measure would not punish citizens for simply having a VPN enabled, carrying a smartphone or running a neural network on their computer. The norm is intended solely for situations in which digital tools materially facilitate or intensify criminal activity.
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