Russia slaps Telegram with another multi-million-ruble fine for refusing to take down ‘prohibited content’ 

A Moscow court has fined the messaging service Telegram 4 million rubles (almost $50,000) for refusing to remove content prohibited under Russian law, according to the news outlet RBC. Officials didn’t specify what materials Telegram refused to censor. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has added numerous war-related speech offenses to its already long list of illegal online content. 

Several weeks ago, Telegram was fined 7 million rubles ($85,000) under the same statute for refusing to delete channels that hosted alleged incitements to terrorist attacks and protests. Telegram was hit with an identical fine a few months earlier, in November 2024, for failing to comply with Russian court orders to remove illegal material.