Facebook, Alphabet poised for bigger fines over Russia content

A man uses his smartphone walking past a poster announcing the election to the Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia's parliament, in Moscow on Sept 14, 2021. A series of laws and regulations introduced between 2018 and 2019 expanded Russian authorities’ ability to filter Internet content automatically, according to Human Rights Watch. — AFP

Russia’s Internet regulator is poised to significantly raise the fines it has slapped on US technology companies such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc as the Kremlin escalates its push to curb access to information online.

Companies that refuse to delete content judged to be illegal in Russia could soon face amends of 5% to 20% of their annual local revenue, Roskomnadzor, the federal communications watchdog, said in an email Monday.