WhatsApp fined in Russia, which multiplies the sanctions against the American social networks

The messaging application has just been sentenced by a Moscow court to pay a new fine.

With the war in Ukraine, the American tech giants have less and less good press in Russia. The social networks of Meta, Instagram and Facebook, are thus banned from the country. For its part, its WhatsApp messaging application regularly receives fines.

A new type of fine for WhatsApp

Relations between Russia and American social networks are obviously far from being in good shape. Yet WhatsApp, unlike other services originating in the country of Uncle Sam, continues to operate on Russian territory despite the ongoing conflict, with a few exceptions. It must be said that the application is widely used by the local population.

But WhatsApp’s situation may well get a bit more difficult in the future. While the app had so far only received sanctions for not complying with the data law and not storing Russian users’ data in Russia, today it receives for the first time a fined 3 million rubles (about 34,000 euros) for not removing illegal content.

The Wikimedia foundation also sanctioned

More specifically, if we are to believe the information from the RIA agency, it would be the failure to withdraw information on the drug Lyrica which is at the origin of this judgment. This substance, initially used against epilepsy or neuropathic pain, has seen its use diverted in several countries, including France, to become a recreational drug. Its production and marketing are prohibited in Russia.

It remains to be seen whether this is a pretext that will serve as a precedent for other fines, or a very specific action. At the same time, the Wikimedia Foundation, which has already gone to court in the country in the past, received a new fine of 3 million rubles for “ fake news on the conflict in Ukraine.

Source : Reuters