MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court has ruled to enforce the collection of fines from Facebook for breaching Russian laws on illegal content, officials said Thursday.
The Tagansky District Court in Russia’s capital ordered bailiffs to collect 26 million rubles (over $361,000) following Facebook’s failure to pay the fines, court officials said.
Facebook didn’t immediately respond to an AP request for comment.
Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has asked Russian courts to fine Facebook for not deleting content considered unlawful, including calls for unsanctioned anti-Kremlin protests.
The agency has ordered Facebook to pay a total of 80 million rubles ($1.1 million) in fines so far this year, and said the social media company hasn’t paid any.
Roskomnadzor warned that it would impose much heftier fines equal to 5%-10% of Facebook’s sales turnover in Russia over the content deemed unlawful.
Russian authorities have methodically raised pressure on Western tech giants, including Twitter, Facebook and Google, over their roles in amplifying voices of dissent. Authorities accused the platforms of failing to take down announcements for unauthorized protests.
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