MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. The Tagansky Court in Moscow has declared the decision to fine Twitter 8.9 mln rubles ($126,153) over the social network's refusal to delete calls on minors to take part in unauthorized rallies, as legal, the court’s spokesperson told TASS.
"The court considered Twitter's complaint against the decision of the magistracy No. 422 of the Tagansky district of Moscow regarding a fine of 8.9 mln rubles. The decision of the first instance court left unchanged, Twitter's complaint was not satisfied," the official said.
In early April, the magistracy No. 422 of the Tagansky district of Moscow fined Twitter 8.9 million rubles under three protocols drawn up under Part 2 of Art. 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (refusal of the owner of the website or an information resource to delete information if the obligation to delete such information is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation).
The reason for the penalty was the company’s refusal to delete information calling on minors to take part in unauthorized rallies.
According to Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), in January and February, more than 2,500 posts calling for participation in illegal rallies were revealed in social networks. This violation entails a fine for legal entities from 800,000 ($10,796) to 4 mln rubles ($53,984). In case of a repeat offense, the fine will be increased to one-tenth of the company's total annual revenues.