The Russian government has said that social media platforms can be fined for not removing posts encouraging young people to participate in opposition protests, the BBC writes.
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other platforms
“Failed to meet the government’s request for deportation.”
– said the Moscow Media and Communications Authority, Roskomnadzor.
The fine is clearly more symbolic, as it is “only” 4 million rubles (about 15.5 million forint), which dwarfs, for example, the value of the castle, which Navalny, a Russian opposition politician currently detained, says President Putin has. .
Demonstrations took place across Russia on Saturday in support of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Tens of thousands of people defied the strong police presence to participate in the protests, and social media played a major role in getting young people onto the streets.
Video posts promoting the meetings have been viewed hundreds of millions of times on TikTok, for example. Due to the influx of videos, Roskomnadzor required the app to provide any information that “encourages minors to commit illegal acts.”
President Navalny, President Putin’s most famous critic, called on the Russian people to protest after his arrest on January 17th from Berlin at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. Navalny’s Russian allies called for more rallies over the weekend.
Formal justification
On Wednesday, Roscomnadzor strictly stated that social media companies would be fined for “failing to comply with requirements to limit the spread of calls to minors to unauthorized gatherings.”
In Russia, protests under the age of 18 are prohibited, as are mass demonstrations that have not received prior approval from the authorities.
Despite the request from the prosecutor’s office and Roscomnadzor’s notification, these online platforms have not cleared a total of 170 illegal appeals in a timely manner.
– It states in the statement of Roskomnadzor.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself also criticized the growing influence of social media companies, which he said were “competing with the state.”
They are no longer just economic giants
Putin said in a speech at the virtual economic summit in Davos. He also added that it blurred the line between “successful global business” and the fact that some companies “attempt to manage society in raw form, at their own discretion.”
We just saw all of that in the US, too
He added, without elaborating on what he meant.
Putin’s comments increase the pressure on foreign social media companies, which can operate without government interference, unlike much of the Russian media, where the most popular television networks are state-owned or owned by companies closely linked to the Kremlin.
(Cover photo: Protesters near Navalng clash with police in Moscow on January 23, 2021)
