Moscow court fines Wikimedia Foundation another 3 mln rubles for not removing prohibited info from Wikipedia

MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - A justice of the peace in Moscow has imposed a 3-million-ruble fine on Wikimedia Foundation for not removing prohibited information from Wikipedia, an Interfax correspondent said in a report.

"To penalize Wikimedia Foundation Inc. with a 3-million-ruble administrative fine," Justice of the Peace from Judicial District No. 422 in Moscow's Tagansky district Timur Vakhrameyev said.

Wikimedia Foundation was found guilty of not removing prohibited information.

According to materials in the administrative proceeding, read out in court, Wikimedia was charged with not removing a Wikipedia article about a Ukrainian nationalistic paramilitary unit branded as terrorist and banned in Russia.

This is the tenth time Wikipedia has been penalized in 2023 for not removing prohibited information. The ten fines total 15.9 million rubles.

The Wikimedia lawyer asked the court to drop the charges due to procedural violations and insignificance of the offense.

Over the past few years, the biggest Internet services - Google, Telegram, Facebook (information resource of an entity banned in Russia), Twitter, TikTok - have been repeatedly held responsible in Russia over failure to remove prohibited content.