Facebook
paid 17 million roubles ($229,643) in fines to Russia for failing to delete
content Moscow termed illegal, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.
TikTok has also been fined. But a threat of potentially larger fines looms
large on Facebook.

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Meta, the
parent company of Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, will battle court cases next
week for suspected repeated violations of Russian legislation on content and
could be fined a percentage of its annual revenue in Russia. Facebook, however,
was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Moscow’s
Tagansky District Court said Twitter was fined 10 million roubles across two
cases, while TikTok received a 4 million rouble penalty.

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In October
this year, Russia asked state bailiffs to enforce the collection of 17 million
roubles in fines imposed on Facebook. Interfax said there were no more
enforcement proceedings against the company as of Sunday, citing the federal
bailiff service’s database.

Twitter’s
speed slowed down

Russia,
meanwhile, has slowed down the speed of Twitter since March as a punitive
measure for posts containing child pornography, drug abuse information or calls
for minors to commit suicide, communications regulator Roskomnadzor has said.

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Twitter
denies allowing its platform to be used to promote illegal behaviour.

Moscow has
also demanded that 13 foreign and mostly US technology companies must have set
up in Russia by January 1 or face possible restrictions or outright bans. All
three companies fined on Thursday are on that list.

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Moscow has
tightened its grip over tech firms this year in a campaign that critics called
an attempt by the Russian authorities to exert tighter control over the
internet, something they say threatens to stifle individual and corporate
freedom. Interfax said messaging app Telegram has also paid 15 million roubles
in fines. Telegram, however, did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.