Russian Media Watchdog Files Cases Against Meta And Google

Russia's Roskomnadzor media watchdog has filed suits against Alphabet's Google and Meta's Facebook that could see them fined at much as 10 percent of their local revenue.

The Magistrates Court in Moscow’s Taganka district said on December 3 that the cases originally were filed against the two companies in October over their repeated failure to delete content that Russia considers illegal.

The court added that it will hold hearings into the cases on December 24.

Roskomnadzor has been filing cases against Google, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok since February, saying the social media giants had failed to remove content that Russian authorities consider illegal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused social media platforms and other tech giants of flouting the country's Internet laws, including a push to force foreign firms to open offices in Russia and store Russians' personal data on its territory.

Many critics say the push has nothing to do with "Internet integrity" and instead accuse the authorities of trying to quell dissent.

Social media companies have already been fined hundreds of millions of rubles for content violations.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and RIA Novosti