Social media giant TikTok has been fined in Russia after refusing to delete what sensors describe as “LGBT propaganda.”
Russian authorities issued the fine on Tuesday, the 4th of October, for violating Russia’s ‘gay propaganda laws’ prohibiting the promotion of LGBTQ+ content to under-18s.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was accused of “promoting non-traditional values, LGBT, feminism, and a distorted representation of traditional sexual values” and received a fine of 3 million Roubles (just under NZD$ 90,000).
Russian authorities also fined streaming service Twitch (owned by Amazon) 4 million Roubles (NZD$120,000) for hosting a video interview with Ukrainian political figure Oleksiy Arestovych, an interview that Moscow has described as “fake” information.
