
© AFP/Chandan Khanna
So far this year,
Russia has fined seven internet giants a combined total of $2.6 million for failure to remove prohibited information, including content that promoted the usage of drugs, the country's media watchdog has revealed.
In a post on its Telegram channel on Monday,
Roskomnadzor outlined the penalties handed down to companies that refuse to abide by the watchdog's deletion requests.
The websites in question include US-based social networks
Facebook ($998,000) and
Twitter ($542,000), American search engine
Google ($458,000), and Chinese video-sharing app
TikTok ($58,000). Russian social media networks
Odnoklassniki ($56,000) and VKontakte ($42,000) were also fined, alongside the popular messaging app
Telegram ($494,000).
Whenever prohibited content is discovered online,
Roskomnadzor files deletion demands. Any company that refuses to comply could be fined or even wholly banned, depending on the circumstances. As well as so-called
'pro-drug propaganda,' websites have been punished for refusing to remove other content such as
child pornography, extremist materials, and calls for children to join illegal street protests.
Comment: It may be that some of those that defected did so under direction from their masters in the US: Pepe Escobar: Blowback: The Taliban target US intel's shadow army
See also: The Great Game in central Asia is over - and America lost
Also check out SOTT radio's: