Security News > 2020 > February > Twitter, Facebook Fined for Not Moving User Data to Russia
A court in Moscow fined Twitter and Facebook 4 million rubles each Thursday for refusing to store the personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, the largest penalties imposed on Western technology companies under internet use laws.
Russia's internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, has tried unsuccessfully for several years to force large companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to move Russian user data to Russia.
Commenting on Thursday's court rulings, Roskomnadzor said Twitter and Facebook would be fined 18 million rubles each if they don't comply this year.
Last year, Twitter and Facebook were fined the equivalent of $47 each for violating the same personal data regulation.
The law allows online services that don't follow the data storage requirement to be banned from Russia.