Russian court fines Twitter on charges of failing to delete content

MOSCOW: A Russian court fined Twitter a total of 8.9 million roubles ($116,800) on Friday over accusations that the service had failed to delete banned content.

Moscow said last month it had slowed the speed of Twitter inside Russia, and on March 16 threatened to ban the U.S. social media service outright over content that it said ranged from child pornography to drug abuse.

Twitter declined to comment on Friday. Last month it said it was worried about the Russian action’s impact on free speech, and denied that it allowed its platform to be used to promote any illegal behaviour.