Moscow court orders WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fine

A magistrates court of Moscow ruled to fine WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook millions of rubles for refusing to localize the data of Russian users in the country, Russian consumer watchdog Roskomnadzor said.

“On the basis of a decision of a court, WhatsApp shall be fined 4 million rubles ($53,000) under Part 8 of Art. 13.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation,” the official statement reads.

Twitter was fined 17 million rubles ($266,000), and Facebook - 15 million rubles ($200,000).

• For WhatsApp, this is the first fine issued by a Russian court.
• For Twitter and Facebook, this is a second penalty for non-compliance with localization requirements, the department clarified.

At the end of July 2021, the US-based  Google Corporation was fined in Russia for the first time for refusing to store data of Russian users on the territory of the Russian federation. The Tagansky A Moscow court ordered Google to pay a fine of three million rubles ($40,000).

The fine for refusing to store personal data in Russia was increased in 2019. Today, the amount of the fine ranges from one million to six million rubles.