WhatsApp, the popular messenger service, is facing a potential fine of up to 4 million roubles (approximately $51,500) in Russia.
The accusation stems from Russia’s claim that WhatsApp failed to remove prohibited content, as reported by state media citing a Moscow court.
While its parent company, Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O), was previously banned in Russia as an “extremist” organization, the chat software itself had not faced legal repercussions for not deleting forbidden content in the past.
However, WhatsApp was fined in Russia in 2021 for failing to comply with the country’s data protection laws. The Russian authorities had ordered it to store Russian users’ data within the country in accordance with a 2015 law.
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WhatsApp did not comply with this order, resulting in a fine of 4 million rubles (approximately $54,000 USD) by the Russian government.
The specific details of the recent fine regarding the content that it allegedly failed to delete were not specified in the RIA article. The administrative lawsuit against WhatsApp was initiated by Roskomnadzor, the communications regulator in Russia.
In recent times, Russia has implemented strict military censorship regulations, particularly in light of its military campaign in Ukraine. This has led to various penalties imposed on companies such as Google, Wikipedia, and Discord for alleged violations of these regulations. The imposition of the fine on WhatsApp is another instance of Russia’s efforts to enforce content moderation and censorship within its digital landscape.
Other fines WhatsApp has faced
WhatsApp has faced fines and penalties in various countries due to different reasons. Here are a few notable instances.
European Union: In 2017, WhatsApp was fined €110 million (approximately $122 million) by the European Commission for providing misleading information during the acquisition process by Facebook. It had initially stated that it would not link user data between WhatsApp and Facebook, but later updated its terms of service to allow such sharing.
India: in 2019, India’s government imposed a $70,000 fine on WhatsApp for failing to curb the spread of fake news on its platform.
Brazil: WhatsApp has faced multiple fines in Brazil for failing to comply with court orders related to criminal investigations. These fines were imposed as WhatsApp did not provide access to encrypted messages for law enforcement purposes. The exact amounts of the fines vary depending on the cases. Latest in 2020, the Brazilian government fined WhatsApp $1.5 million for failing to provide access to encrypted messages in a criminal investigations.
Turkey: In 2020, WhatsApp was fined 1.95 million Turkish lira (approximately $265,000) by the Turkish Competition Authority for allegedly violating competition laws. The authority claimed that it did not fully comply with obligations regarding data-sharing practices for commercial purposes.
In 2021, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined WhatsApp €225 million for violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding transparency of data processing by failing to be transparent about its data sharing practices.