Twitter has been fined yet again by Russia in the latest episode of the long-running dispute between the country and the social network operator. On Thursday a Russian court fined the company 19 million rubles ($259,000) for failing to delete content considered illegal by Moscow.
Twitter has been subjected to a punitive slowdown in Russia since March, part of a broader standoff between Moscow and big tech companies to beef up what it calls internet sovereignty.
State communications regulator Roskomnadzor earlier this month partially halted the slowdown after Twitter deleted more than 90% of illegal content, which Roskomnadzor says includes posts containing child pornography, drug abuse information or calls for minors to commit suicide.
Twitter denies allowing its platform to be used to promote illegal behavior and says it has a zero-tolerance policy for child sexual exploitation and prohibits the promotion of suicide or self-harm.
On Thursday, Moscow's Tagansky District Court said it issued Twitter with fines for six different administrative offenses, totaling 19 million rubles.
Twitter, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, was also fined 8.9 million rubles in April.
TikTok and Google received smaller fines on Thursday for similar offenses. Google declined to comment. TikTok did not immediately respond.
Repeat offenses can be punishable by a fine of up to 10% of the company's total annual revenue, Roskomnadzor has said, but it is unclear whether it would take such a step.
Roskomnadzor earlier on Thursday said it was not yet planning to slow down the speed of Google or Facebook, as it has done with Twitter, but warned it could take more radical steps.
