Russia takes “coercive” measures against Twitch

Updated on: 14 July 2022

Kristina Jarusevičiūtė
Writer

Russia-against-Twitch — Image by Shutterstock

Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor announced that it had taken coercive measures against the Twitch live video streaming service for not removing “fake” information.

Roskomnadzor said it took measures against Twitch after the company refused to remove illegal information about Russia’s war in Ukraine, or, as the Kremlin calls it, Russia’s special operation to secure Donbas.

Roskomnadzor said the measures would be in effect until Twitch completely removes the information prohibited by the law. It did not specify what those measures meant.

“In relation to the Twitch streaming platform, Roskomnadzor drew up an administrative protocol under Part 2 of Art. 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for not deleting prohibited information – fakes about the special military operation conducted by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine,” Roskomnadzor said.

Moscow court fined the video streaming service RUB 2 million (around $34,350) on June 28, together with social media channel Pinterest, rental service Airbnb, and package delivery company UPS. The companies were charged for failing to localize the personal data of Russian citizens.

On July 12, Apple, Zoom, and SpeedTest by Ookla also received a fine from the Moscow court for the same reasons. While Apple’s fine was the same as Twitch’s, the other companies received a RUB 1 million fine (around $17,145.)