Apple Fined by Russia Court for Not Deleting Allegedly Inaccurate Content

A Moscow court fined Apple RUB 400,000 (nearly Rs. 3.5 lakh) on Thursday for not deleting “inaccurate” content about what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. 

The TASS news agency said it was the first time Apple had been fined for that offence. 

Apple did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The company paused all product sales in Russia shortly after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and limited its Apple Pay service in Russia.

Moscow has clashed with Big Tech for years over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that escalated after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine.

Apple paid a RUB 906 million (nearly Rs. 80 crore) fine in a Russian antitrust case alleging abuse of its dominance in the mobile apps market, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said in February. 

Apple, which did not comment then, had previously appealed and “respectfully disagreed” with a FAS ruling that Apple’s distribution of apps through its iOS operating system gave its own products a competitive advantage.

The same court later said it had fined the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, RUB 3 million (nearly Rs. 26 lakh) for the same offence. 

Wikimedia has been fined several times and has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well-sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards.

In June, a Russian court fined Alphabet‘s Google RUB 4 billion (roughly Rs. 380 crore) for failing to pay an earlier fine over alleged abuse of its dominant position in the video hosting market, the country’s anti-monopoly watchdog said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023