Russia fines Twitter for not removing posts

A Russian court fined Twitter Friday for not removing posts that encouraged minors to participate in protests, The Associated Press reported

The court’s ruling comes after Russian telecommunications watchdog pressured the platform to remove the content or be blocked. 

The court found Twitter guilty on three counts of violating regulations on restricting unlawful content, ordering it to pay three fines adding up to 8.9 million rubles, or about $117,000, the AP reported. 

A spokesperson for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The watchdog Roskomnadzor last month alleged Twitter had not taken down more than 3,000 posts containing banned content including information regarding drugs, child pornography and increasing suicide among minors. 

The watchdog also said at the time it would slow down Twitter’s upload speeds if it didn’t meet the Kremlin’s demands to remove the content. 

A spokesperson for Twitter at the time said the platform’s policies already outline a range of prohibited behavior including content that involves child sexual exploitation or promoting suicide or self-harm.