MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. A Moscow court has fined the Telegram messaging system 4 million rubles ($47,520) for refusing to remove 32 Telegram channels that publish fake information about the special military operation and its participants, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.

"The court hereby rules to find Telegram guilty under part 2, Article 13.41 [of the Russian Code of Administrative Violations] ("Refusal to delete or remove information or a web-page by the owner of a website if such a deletion or removal is mandated by Russian law) and to impose a penalty in the form of an administrative fine of 4 million rubles," the judge said in handing down the court ruling.

In addition, the popular messaging application’s parent company refused to remove certain channels via which users had been subject to fraud and extortion of funds. The court ruling has not yet taken legal effect and may be appealed to a higher instance.