MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – Five social media platforms are being sued by the Russian authorities for allegedly failing to delete posts urging children to take part in illegal protests. While Twitter, Google, and Facebook each have three cases against them, with each violation punishable by a fine of up to 4 million roubles (around $54,000), cases have also been filed against Tiktok and Telegram.
The cases were opened after protests nationwide over last month’s jailing of Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny and his supporters say his 30-month sentence, for alleged parole violations related to an embezzlement case, was trumped up for political reasons, something the authorities deny.
The cases against Google, Facebook and Twitter will be heard on April 2, the agency said.