Russian court fines Twitter for failing to delete content

A Russian court on Thursday fined Twitter 19 million roubles ($259,000) for failing to delete content considered illegal by Moscow, in the latest episode of a long-running dispute between Russia and the social network operator.

Twitter has been subjected to a punitive slowdown in Russia since March, part of a broader stand-off between Moscow and big tech companies to beef up what it calls internet sovereignty.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor earlier this month partially halted the slowdown after Twitter deleted more than 90% of illegal content, which Roskomnadzor says includes posts containing child pornography, drug abuse information or calls for minors to commit suicide.