Russia fines Facebook & Telegram for failing to delete illegal content

A Russian court has slapped Facebook and Telegram with small fines on Thursday after the platforms failed to respond to illegal content claims.

The US social media giant was fined 6 million rubles ($81,000), while the messaging app’s fine was nearly double at 11 million rubles ($150,000).

Moscow’s Tagansky District Court said on Thursday it had fined Facebook for two different administrative offences, while Telegram was fined for three offences. The details of those have not been disclosed.

Neither Facebook nor Telegram immediately responded to requests for comment, Reuters reported. Two similar accusations have been submitted against Twitter, with the court expected to rule on them later on Thursday.

Russia has been increasingly watchful in terms of regulation of social media, with a number of fines issued over the past several months for a variety of content violations. The country’s government has also been urging foreign tech firms to open offices within Russia, as well as to store citizens’ personal data on Russian territory.

Similar steps have been taken by other countries, including China, India and the UK. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently met with representatives of social media firms, warning them of potential fines amounting to 10% of their global revenues if they fail to curb hate and racism content on their platforms.

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