Russia Fines Reddit For The First Time For Allegations Of "Fake" Content About War In Ukraine

JAKARTA - On Tuesday, August 15, the Russian government imposed a fine on social media site Reddit for the first time for not removing content deemed "forbidden" and containing "fake" information about Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. This was reported by RIA, citing a Moscow court.

Reddit joins the list of sites examined in Russia for failing to remove content Moscow deems illegal, including Wikimedia, Twitch streaming service, and Google.

RIA reported that the court had imposed a fine of 2 million rubles (Rp307.6 million) to Reddit. Reddit did not immediately respond to requests for comment via email.

Also on Tuesday, the court fined 2 million rubles to the Wikimedia Foundation, the Wikipedia owner, for failing to remove a "fake" about what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, as reported by Interfax.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, the Russian government has intensified surveillance of coverage of conflicts by media and bloggers, as well as imposing tougher penalties for "contamination" of the actions of armed forces or the spread of false information about them.

Wikimedia previously stated that the information complained by the Russian authorities came from a good source and was in accordance with Wikipedia standards.

Wikipedia is one of the sources of independent information that has persisted in Russia since the country's crackdown on online content increased after Moscow sent its troops to Ukraine.

Russia has said it has no plans to block Wikipedia, but has imposed repeated fines on the online equator.

Wikimedia has previously criticized the fines as "part of the Russian government's ongoing efforts to limit the spread of reliable information and stemming from good sources in the country".