Russia’s censorship agency seeks new fines for Twitter, Google, and Facebook

Twitter may face another 24 million rubles ($320,880) in fines for failing to remove content prohibited in Russia, while Google and Facebook may face an additional 20 million rubles ($267,400) in fines each for the same violation, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday, May 5.

Russia’s censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, has filed for new proceedings against the three tech giants, sending Russian courts six protocols against Twitter, five protocols against Google, and five against Facebook. Each protocol carries a maximum fine of 4 million rubles ($53,460). 

Roskomnadzor has been throttling Twitter traffic in Russia since March 10, accusing the social network of failing to remove content considered illegal in Russia. The censorship agency has threatened to block Twitter from the RuNet completely, unless the social network starts cooperating with the Russian authorities. On March 23, Roskomnadzor announced that Twitter had started deleting prohibited content, but was doing so at an “unsatisfactory pace.”

In early April, a Russian court fined Twitter 8.9 million rubles (more than $119,000) for failing to remove content about unauthorized protests.