Moscow courts They have imposed Telegram two fines which add up 10,5 million rubles (about $131.000) for violating regulations: no locate personal data of Russian citizens on the country's servers and refuse to remove prohibited content.
The Ruling It was dictated by the Justice of the Peace of the Taganski District, which declared the platform responsible for a administrative violation by violating the Russian data protection law and the rules on the dissemination of information on the Internet.
Details of the fines and legal basis
One of the sanctions amounts to 3,5 million rubles (about $43.600) for failing to comply with the obligation to hosting personal data in Russia of the country's users, as stipulated by current legislation and confirmed by the press office of the Moscow courts.
The second fine, of 7 million rubles (more than $87.000), responds to the refusal to remove prohibited information in Russia. Among the banned content are those that incite ethnic, racial or religious hatred; that suppose a risk to minors or promote the consumption of drugs, alcohol or tobacco; just like him game, the prostitution or wandering. As well Material that justifies the cruelty to animals, which denies the so-called “family values" or what to do non-traditional sex propaganda. After the start of the war, in addition, the pursuit of "false information" on the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
From 2015 September, the companies that deal personal data of Russian citizens must locate the servers in the national territory, a requirement whose non-compliance has led to multiple administrative actions.
Context and technological background
It is not an isolated episode: in last may, the same court imposed another on Telegram fine of 2 million rubles for similar violations related to data localization, according to known resolutions.
Regulatory pressure also affects other technology platformsRussian authorities have sanctioned Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and access to these platforms has been locked in different periods of the country.
This regulatory tightening is part of a policy of greater state control on the flow of information and the operations of foreign companies, conditioning both the Legal compliance of platforms as the user experience in the Russian digital environment.
The case against Telegram accumulates 10,5 million rubles in fines for data and content, adding recent precedents in a context of reinforced surveillance of the activity of the main social networks in Russia.
