Facebook deletes some content banned in Russia, but still faces fine: Report

Facebook has complied with Russian demands to delete some banned content, but it could still face a hefty fine as it was slow to do so, the Vedomosti newspaper cited state communications regulator Roskomnadzor as saying on Monday.

Russia has increased pressure on foreign tech firms in recent months as part of a long-running push to assert greater sovereignty over its segment of the internet.

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Roskomnadzor threatened Facebook last week with a fine of up to 10 per cent of its annual Russian turnover unless it deleted content that Moscow deems illegal.

Experts cited by Vedomosti estimate Facebook's Russian turnover at between 12 and 39 billion roubles ($165-$538 million). Reuters could not immediately verify those estimates.

Roskomnadzor said Facebook had taken down banned content from its platform as well as from Instagram, but that it could still face the fine on turnover because it had not deleted the content quickly, the newspaper reported.

Facebook and Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Roskomnadzor official said that Facebook had not taken down all the content Moscow has banned, Vedomosti reported.

"A total of 1,043 items currently remain undeleted on Facebook...and 973 on Instagram," the official was cited as saying.

Russia has already fined Facebook this year for not removing content. The fines, some of which are still being appealed, total close to 70 million roubles, court documents show.

Earlier this year, Roskomnadzor told Facebook and other social media firms to remove posts containing what it said were calls for minors to participate in anti-government protests after the arrest of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Russian media have reported that Facebook's violations include failing to remove posts containing child pornography and promoting drug abuse.

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