Russia ramps up pressure on foreign tech firms on eve of election

Russia on Thursday threatened U.S. social media firms with sizeable fines if they fail to delete content Moscow deems illegal and demanded Apple and Google stop allegedly meddling in its internal affairs on the eve of parliamentary elections.

Internet services are coming under increasing pressure ahead of Russia’s Sept. 17-19 parliamentary vote. Russia’s authorities have said foreign firms are hampering their efforts to block virtual private networks (VPNs) and online resources linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.