Russia fines Twitter for not taking down calls to protest

Russia fines Twitter for not taking down calls to protest

SeattlePI.com

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MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Friday fined Twitter for not taking down calls encouraging minors to take part in unauthorized rallies, the latest in a series of moves against the social media giant that has been used to amplify dissent in Russia.

The court found Twitter guilty on three counts of violating regulations on restricting unlawful content, ordering the company to pay three fines adding up to 8.9 million rubles (about $117,000).

The ruling comes two weeks after Russia's state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor threatened to block Twitter within 30 days if it doesn't take steps to remove banned content.

Roskomnadzor last month accused Twitter of failing to remove content encouraging suicide among children, as well as information about drugs and child pornography. The agency announced on March 10 it was slowing down the speed of uploading photos and videos to the platform because of that. Twitter in response has emphasized its policy of zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, the promotion of suicide and drug sales.

Less than a week later, deputy chief of Roskomnadzor Vadim Subbotin argued that Twitter still wasn’t complying with the demands of the Russian authorities, adding that “if things go on like this, then in a month it will be blocked."

Russian authorities earlier this year criticized social media platforms for bringing tens of thousands of people into the streets across Russia in January to demand the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most well-known critic. The wave of demonstrations was the largest in years and posed a major challenge to the Kremlin.

The authorities alleged that social media platforms failed to remove calls for children to join the protests. Putin has urged police to act more to monitor social platforms and to...

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