Russia slaps new fines on Facebook, Telegram over failure to remove illegal content

A Moscow district court on Thursday slapped additional multi-million-ruble fines on Facebook and Telegram for failing to remove banned content in accordance with the Russian media watchdog's requirements, Zulfiya Gurinchuk, the court's spokeswoman, told Sputnik.

The court, in particular, considered four protocols against Facebook earlier in the day, with the overall fine amounting to 17 million rubles ($236,000), according to the official.

"Telegram was found guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the administrative offenses code of Russia. It was sentenced to an administrative fine of 10 million rubles," Gurinchuk added.

The official did not specify what social media content contradicted Russian legislature, but similar verdicts have been delivered in recent months over social networks' failure to delete posts with calls to minors to participate in unsanctioned rallies.

Last month, Facebook and Telegram were fined 26 million rubles and 5 million rubles, respectively, for that.

In March, Roskomnadzor announced its plans to impose fines on TikTok, VK, Telegram, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for failing to follow its instructions. Any company could be fined up to 4 million rubles if it fails to remove illegal content after receiving the watchdog's notification. In case of repeated violations, fines increase to one-tenth of a company's total annual income. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )