Russia Puts Facebook in a "Difficult Position" Over Pornographic Content

Russian authorities warned on Thursday that social media giant Facebook could face fines of up to 10% of its annual revenue in the country if it fails to remove content deemed illegal by Moscow. In escalating tensions with major American tech companies, the Russian telecommunications regulator (Roskomnadzor) informed Reuters that it intends to send a notice to Facebook representatives in Russia, notifying them of the company's repeated failure to remove prohibited information. They stated that this could lead to a fine of five to ten percent of Facebook's annual revenue in Russia unless the situation is addressed. Separately, the newspaper "Vedomosti" reported that Facebook's violations include failing to remove posts containing pornographic material related to children, drug use, and content that is overtly extremist. Moscow has increased pressure on foreign tech companies over the past year as part of a long-standing campaign to exert more sovereignty over the internet, including efforts to require companies to store Russian citizens' personal data on local servers instead of abroad. On Wednesday, Russia threatened to block YouTube, owned by Alphabet, after the popular video site removed channels from RT, a Russian-backed outlet broadcasting in German.