A Russian court has imposed a fine of 21 million rubles ($289,170) and 5 million rubles ($68,880) on social media platforms Facebook and Twitter, respectively, over their failure to remove content banned by the government.
“Facebook has been found guilty of five administrative offences and fined 21 million rubles in total,” court press secretary Zulfia Gurinchuk said on Tuesday. “The company was found guilty of offences defined by Parts 2 and 4 Article 13.41 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses–the failure of an owner of an Internet resource to remove information whenever the duty to remove such information is imposed by Russian laws,” he added.
The two tech giants have not yet commented on the matter.
Russia has a long history of imposing punitive and restrictive measures against US-based social networks for publishing what it deems illegal and malicious content, including pornographic material and substance abuse. The total amount of fines levied on Facebook this year currently stands at 90 million rubles ($1,239,000), while Twitter has been fined up to 45 million rubles ($619,200).
In August, Russia imposed a fine of 14 million rubles ($192,780) on Google for failing to delete banned content and “for failing to store the data of Russian users on domestic services.” In addition, Google has been asked by the Russian government to unblock the YouTube account of Tsargrad TV, a Christian Orthodox channel owned by Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian business tycoon and pro-Kremlin conservative. A court hearing in the matter is scheduled for September 20.
Moreover, Russia banned six major VPN providers, including Nord VPN and Express VPN, this month.
The Russian government has cited “election interference” as the reason for the fines imposed on various social media platforms. Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had “summoned the US ambassador to Moscow to present proof of US tech giants’ interference in the forthcoming polls.”
As the country gears up for its parliamentary elections between September 17-19, Russians have expressed concern regarding the Putin-led government launching an overt crackdown on any form of dissent or opposition against the ruling party, including the silencing of independent media houses and journalists.
Similarly, critics claim that the Russian ban and fines on social networks attempt to suppress content representing the opposition, mainly related to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his Smart Voting campaign that seeks to mobilise voters against Putin’s United Russia Party. The government has demanded that Google comply with a court order banning references to “smart voting” in its keyword search system.
Navalny remains imprisoned since January, while nearly all other Kremlin critics have been barred from running in parliamentary elections.
Russia Fines Facebook, Twitter Over Prohibited Content Violation
On Tuesday, Russia respectively fined social media platforms Facebook and Twitter 21 million rubles and 5 million rubles over their refusal to remove banned content.
September 15, 2021
SOURCE: REUTERS