Facebook Fails To Remove Illegal Content, Faces IDR 13.9 Billion Fine In Russia

JAKARTA - - A Moscow court on Thursday, October 21 said it had sent state judicial officers to enforce the collection of 17 million rubles (Rp 3.4 billion) in fines imposed on US social media giant Facebook for failing to remove content deemed illegal by Russia.

Moscow's Tagansky District Court issued an order for four fines Facebook had not paid, the court said in a statement, asking for the second time this month the bailiff's assistance to impose fines on Facebook.

The court said Facebook, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, on Thursday asked for more time before the ruling takes effect, citing technical issues.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor said fines totaling around 70 million rubles (Rp 13.9 billion) had been imposed on Facebook this year, but the company had yet to pay anything, highlighting the challenges Moscow faces in cracking down on foreign tech giants.

Roskomnadzor is now seeking to impose a much larger fine on Facebook that would amount to 5-10% of the company's annual turnover in Russia for what it says are repeated violations of the law.

On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor said it would seek to fine Google the same percentage of Russia's annual turnover for the same content violation.