A man walks along a bridge in front of a Kremlin tower and the Russian Foreign Ministry building on the background in downtown Moscow on Jan 12, 2021. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP)
MOSCOW – Russian authorities are suing social media platforms for allegedly failing to delete posts urging children to take part in illegal protests, the Interfax news agency cited a Moscow court as saying on Tuesday.
Twitter, Google, Facebook each have three cases against them, with each violation punishable by a fine of up to 4 million roubles (around US$54,000), and cases have also been filed against Telegram, the report said.
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The cases were opened after protests nationwide over last month’s jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 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.
Google declined to comment on the Interfax report. Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The cases against Google, Facebook and Twitter will be heard on April 2, the agency said.
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