In a first, Russia fines WhatsApp for not deleting banned content; check details

First Published Jun 1, 2023, 6:20 PM IST | Last Updated Jun 1, 2023, 6:32 PM IST

In a recent development, a Russian court on Thursday (June 1) fined WhatsApp, a messenger service application, with three million roubles ($37,080) for not deleting banned content, its first fine in Russia for that offence.

Last year, WhatsApp's parent company Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) was branded an "extremist" organisation by Moscow but the messenger app has not previously faced penalties for failing to remove prohibited information. Other Meta services, Facebook and Instagram - now banned in Russia - have been fined over content, as have the likes of Twitter and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google.

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However, WhatsApp has previously been fined for its alleged refusal to comply with Russian data law and store Russian users' data on servers in the country. The RIA news agency reported that Thursday's fine was due to WhatsApp's refusal to remove information about the drug Lyrica, whose sale and manufacture are prohibited in Russia.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside US business hours. The court also fined Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, three million roubles, for not removing what Russia considers "false information" about Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.

Moscow has for years clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that escalated after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

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