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Facebook fined mainly because of posts about illegal rallies, court says

The court states that there is no evidence confirming that Facebook has taken all measures in its power to prevent the offense

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Most of the multimillion-dollar fines imposed on Facebook under the Code of Administrative Offenses because of the company’s refusal to remove prohibited content are mainly related to posts about unauthorized campaigns or calls for rallies, according to the resolution by the judicial department Number 422 of the Magistrates' court in Moscow, a copy of which was obtained by TASS.

According to the document, if the authorities find Internet content with calls for riots, participation in unsanctioned rallies, "the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation or his deputies apply to the federal executive agency exercising control over information technology and communications, with the requirement to take measures to restrict access to information resources disseminating such information."

The court states that there is no evidence confirming that Facebook has taken all measures in its power to prevent the offense.

"The court ruled that Facebook was found guilty under Part 2 Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (the owner of an information resource on the Internet that does not delete information or a webpage in the event when Russian law envisages such an obligation)," most of the protocols mentioning Facebook say.

According to the data published on the website of the judicial department Number 422, there are more than 10 protocols with the abovementioned text concerning Facebook.

Facebook was prosecuted for publishing pieces of extremist religious content. Twitter was fined at least three times for disseminating information about unauthorized rallies, and at least twice for publishing Nazi slogans or symbols.

Since the beginning of the year, Facebook has been fined a total of 43 mln rubles ($607,730) for not removing prohibited content. Currently, the bailiffs have begun the procedure for enforced collection of these funds, as the company did not pay them voluntarily within the deadline set by the law. Also, this year, Twitter was fined over 8.9 million rubles ($125,771) for refusing to delete banned content. The bailiffs also began to collect this money forcibly.