Facebook pays Million Roubles fines to Russia for not abiding by the set standards of illegal content. Even after repeated warnings against such violations, Facebook hasn’t taken down the banned content. This led Russia to further act against it.
Facebook parent Meta and Alphabet’s Google is currently charged with 17 million roubles ($229,643) as fines to Russia. It is reported that Facebook hasn’t deleted content that is considered to be illegal in Moscow.
The Interfax news agency made this revelation on Sunday. It is heard that a larger fine may be charged for such a grim violation.
The tech mogul is again under fire. This time, the company has to pay a heavy price.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg has made history after Facebook became one of the most popular social media platforms. In 2021 alone, Facebook had 1.91 billion active users and made a huge profit out of it. Facebook even acquired Whatsapp in 2014 and Instagram in 2012 to become the ultimate tech giant.
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Is Facebook Stealing Your Data?
Recently, Zuckerberg announced to rebrand Facebook to Meta. However, the rebranding isn’t appreciated yet. According to a survey conducted by Yahoo Finance, Facebook parent Meta is voted to be the Worst Company of the Year (2021).
Facebook is frequently questioned about the unclear ways that the company chooses to function. Besides, the giant social media brand has been constantly under the radar for its problematic practices.
Facebook is accused of stealing data. In 2021, more than 500 million Facebook users’ data were leaked and uploaded on a low-level hacking forum. This incident of data breaching has shaken the privacy of millions of users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to address the accusations over the years and still, not everyone is satisfied with the answer. Due to this, many users shifted from Facebook and Whatsapp to protect their data and identity.
Now, the case filed for the 17 million Roubles fine will be presented in court, next week. It is said that Facebook has been warned time and again for not respecting the policies of Russia.
After continuous violations of the strict measures for filtering content set by Russian legislation, Facebook has been finally charged. Reports say that the company can pay almost a percentage of the annual revenue that it has earned from Russia.
However, neither Facebook nor Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed anything.
Russia Maximising Authority over Internet
In October, Russia acted against the matter by sending state bailiffs to collect the fined amount of 17 million Roubles. But Interfax also clarified that no further actions were taken until this Sunday.
Over the years, Moscow has been tightening its control over social media and the internet as a whole. Following their practice, Moscow began exerting excess pressure over large tech firms.
But critics have stated this movement to be a threat against corporate freedom and a method to suppress individuals’ privacy.
Interfax also revealed that the messaging app Telegram was fined 15 million roubles. Even if the amount that needs to be paid is less compared to Facebook, still these apps and platforms have to be careful enough.
Honestly, it seems like these big social media companies need to revise their rules and regulations.
Telegram is yet to respond to this matter. So, there hasn’t been any such confirmation from the company’s side.
This may not have come as a shock, but Russia is trying to monitor internet activities with its strict rules. All the popular social media platforms need to follow the laid guidelines by the Russian legislation for avoiding getting fined.
The world is yet to know about the final amount that will be fined.
