Russia: Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter fined total ₽36 million for breaching data storage law

Russia has fined social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp for not complying with Russian legislation. Russia's internet watchdog said on Thursday that the three web giants failed to abide by the rules for storing data of Russian users on domestic servers. The authorities fined foreign internet companies with a hefty fine, which included 15 million rubles against Facebook, 17 million rubles against Twitter, and WhatsApp was fined four million rubles in a first-time law breach of law case, confirmed Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor).

The Russian government fined Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp for breach of law

The Russian authorities have tightened up the country's internet segment, as President Vladimir Putin has accused western social media platforms of breaching Russian laws. According to legislation passed by Russia in 2014, the personal data of Russian users must be stored on local servers. Despite the law, the microblogging platform and Facebook were penalised earlier for not complying with country media law, whereas the internet giant Google was fined last month.

Roskomnadzor on Thursday said that there are many companies who are sincerely complying with the rules, including Apple, Microsoft, LG Electronics, Samsung, PayPal, and Booking.com, among others. It must be noted that the Russian government has started taking strict actions against foreign tech giants, in particular for failing to remove content at the request of Roskomnadzor. In January this year, when the country was witnessing a massive protest against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Russian government accused internet platforms of interfering in the country's domestic affairs. Putin complained that the social media platforms were provoking violence inside the country, as they did not remove the posts on social media calling for minors to join the protest. Putin last month accused the social media giants of increasing their influence on the people.

IMAGE: AP