Likee social network fined 1.5 mln rubles over refusal to localize Russian users' database

MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - A magistrates' court in Moscow's Tagansky district has found the Likee social network guilty of committing an administrative offense by its refusal to localize the database of Russian users in the Russian territory.

"Likeme Pte.Ltd is found in violation of Part 8 Article 13.11 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (a failure of an operator collecting personal data to comply with the duty of recording, systematizing, accumulating, and storing personal data of Russian citizens in databases located in the Russian territory) and fined 1.5 million rubles," the court said in its ruling.

This is the first administration motion brought against the Likee social network in Russia on such grounds.

Company representatives said they were ready to appeal the ruling and asked the court to drop the case, as they did not see formal elements of an administrative offense in the social network's conduct.

According to the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), about 600 offices of foreign companies, among them Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, PayPal, Booking, and LG, have localized the databases of their Russian users in the Russian territory.

The LinkedIn social network was blocked in Russia for breaching the data localization requirement. The Tagansky District Court in Moscow upheld a respective motion from Roskomnadzor in 2016.