WhatsApp, the popular messaging service owned by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), is facing a potential fine of up to 4 million roubles (51,500) in Russia. According to state-owned news agency RIA, the fine is due to WhatsApp’s failure to delete banned content. The report did not specify what information WhatsApp had allegedly failed to delete.
The case was filed by communications regulator Roskomnadzor, which has previously fined other technology companies such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Wikipedia and Discord. This is part of Russia’s military censorship laws, which were introduced at the outset of its military campaign in Ukraine.
WhatsApp is widely used in Russia, and this is the first time the messenger app has been threatened with legal proceedings for failing to remove prohibited information. It remains to be seen how this case will be resolved.