Russian authorities on Thursday ordered Facebook and messaging app Telegram to pay hefty fines for failing to remove banned content, a move that is part of growing government efforts to tighten controls on the social media platform amid political discontent. Could.
A Moscow court imposed a total fine of Rs 1.7 crore (about Rs 1.7 crore) on Facebook and Rs 1 crore (about Rs 1 crore) on Telegram. It was not immediately clear what types of content the platforms failed to remove.
Facebook, Telegram Fined by Russia
This was the second time both companies have been fined in recent weeks. On May 25, Facebook was ordered to pay ₹26 million (about Rs 2.6 crore) for not removing content deemed illegal by the Russian authorities. A month ago, Telegram was also ordered to pay 5 million (about Rs 50 lakh) for not taking calls to protest.
Earlier this year, Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor began slamming Twitter and threatened to ban it, as well as over its alleged failure to remove illegal content. Officials said the platform failed to remove material that encouraged suicide among children and information about drugs and child pornography.
The action comes after Russian officials criticised the social media platform, which has been used this year to bring thousands of people to the streets across Russia, including jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin. Demand the release of the most famous critic. The wave of demonstrations has been a major challenge for the Kremlin.
Officials alleged that social media platforms failed to divert calls for children to join the protest. Putin has urged police to take more action to monitor social media platforms and track those pulling children into “illegal and illegal street works”.
The Russian government’s efforts to tighten controls on the Internet and social media date back to 2012, when a law allowing authorities to block and block certain online content was adopted. Since then, a growing number of sanctions targeting messaging apps, websites and social media platforms have been introduced in Russia.
The government has repeatedly threatened to block Facebook and Twitter, but outright ban restrictions — perhaps fearing the move would spark much public outrage. Only the social network LinkedIn, which was not very popular in Russia, has been banned by the authorities in Russia for its failure to store user data.
In 2018, Roskomnadzor blocked Telegram for refusing to hand over the encryption keys used to scramble messages but failed to restrict access to the app completely, instead of blocking hundreds of websites in Russia. Interrupted. Last year, the watchdog officially withdrew demands to ban the app, which continues to be widely used despite the ban, including by government institutions.
