Facebook could face hefty fine in Russia over banned content, says regulator

Russian authorities on Thursday warned social media giant Facebook it faces a fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover in the country unless it fails to delete content Moscow deems illegal.

Upping the ante in its standoff with US Big Tech, state communications regulator Roskomnadzor told Reuters it was planning to send Facebook’s representatives in Russia an official notification, saying it had repeatedly failed to remove banned information. That, it said, could lead to a fine of 5% or 10% of Facebook’s annual Russian turnover unless the situation is remedied. Facebook’s violations include failing to remove posts containing child pornography, drug abuse and extremist content, the Vedomosti daily reported separately.