Moscow's Tagansky District Court has fined global messaging platform Telegram 11.4 million rubles for failing to delete prohibited content, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
The court issued the ruling after Telegram refused to remove three published posts containing inaccurate information regarding Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, as well as material deemed extremist by authorities.
Judicial officers compiled three separate administrative protocols against the service for the violations. Each protocol carried an individual fine of 3.8 million rubles, bringing the total sum imposed by the court to 11.4 million rubles.
In a related hearing on the same day, the Tagansky District Court also penalized Google Corporation for similar violations. Google was found guilty on two counts of failing to remove prohibited content and received fines totaling 7.6 million rubles. Google, a subsidiary of American technology giant Alphabet Inc., has previously faced major legal penalties in Russia for hosting content flagged by state regulators.
Regulatory Enforcement and Parallel Penalties
Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging application launched in 2013 by Russian-born technology entrepreneur Pavel Durov. The platform permits users to exchange direct messages, share media files, and subscribe to public news channels. The Tagansky District Court of Moscow regularly serves as the official judicial authority handling regulatory cases brought by Roskomnadzor, Russia's federal agency for media oversight.
The latest court decision follows several earlier financial sanctions handed down against the messaging service. Moscow's Tagansky court previously fined Telegram 3.8 million rubles after the platform refused to restrict public access to information prohibited under federal law.
Russian judicial authorities also fined Telegram in August for an identical administrative violation. Following the latest ruling, the messaging platform's total cumulative unpaid fine debt in Russia has reached nearly 53.7 million rubles.
Legal Obligations for Foreign Tech Platforms
Under Russian federal law, foreign and domestic online platforms are legally obligated to monitor published content and remove materials banned by government regulators. When platforms refuse or fail to act on deletion requests within established deadlines, authorities initiate formal enforcement proceedings in local courts. Major international digital services operating in the country face escalating financial penalties for each recorded violation.
