A Russian court has fined social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram for not deleting “banned” content.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Russian court fined U.S. social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and messaging app Telegram for “failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal,” according to American Military News.
- Facebook was fined 6 million rubles ($81,000), Twitter 5.5 million rubles, and Telegram 11 million rubles ($149,000).
- The fines come after multiple protocols filed by Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, also according to Military News.
- Moscow claims it is trying to protect Internet “sovereignty.”
BACKGROUND:
- The same court fined Facebook 17 million rubles and Telegram 10 million rubles last month for what it called “administrative offenses,” failing to remove content banned by Russia.
- Twitter and Google have been fined for similar offenses.
- Roskomnadzor imposed a slowdown on Twitter in March for posts containing child pornography, drug use, and encouragement of youth suicide.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met platform representatives last week, warning that they would “face fines amounting to 10% of their global revenues unless they removed hateful and racist content,” according to Reuters.
