Russian court fines Instagram, TikTok for 'gay propaganda'

A Russian court has fined social media platforms Instagram and TikTok for violating a Russian law that prohibits positive depictions of LGBTQ people.

The Tagansky Court of Moscow said that the platforms had failed to delete the offending materials as required by Russia's "gay propaganda" law.

TikTok was fined 2 million rubles (roughly $27,000), while Meta, parent company of Instagram, was fined 4 million rubles ($54,000).

Russian outlet Gazeta.ru reported that Google-owned YouTube has been fined more than 7 billion rubles for similar violations.

Russia started blocking Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at the start of the war with Ukraine.

The government added that it is also taking measures against social networks that spread "false information" about the war.

Russia's "gay propaganda" law was passed in 2013.