Russia puts pressure on Twitter over failure to delete banned content

Russia's social media regulator has accused Twitter of violating Russian law by continuing to fail to delete banned content shared on its platform.

The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, colloquially known as Roskomnadzor, announced on Monday the social media giant has failed to delete nearly 3,000 posts relating to subjects such as suicide, pornography and drugs since 2017.

Read more: Big Tech must keep tabs on Covid-19 "fake news," EU warns

The platform could face heavy fines if breaches in law continue to be ignored, the regulator announced.

Twitter has been fined in the past for similar breaches, but the levies have been relatively small, according to Reuters.

The nation has looked to exert more influence over foreign social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook in recent months.

Several months ago, new legislation was introduced which could allow the Russian government to levy fines against platform which allow content banned under national regulation and even restrict access if the primarily US-based platforms "discriminate" against Russian media.

Twitter is also used frequently by Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, Reuters also claims Facebook has come under fire from Russian officials for failing to delete fake posts details unauthorised protests in favour of Navalny.

Thousands of demonstrators in these protests have been detained in recent months as tensions between the majority and opposition governments continue to heat up.

President Vladimir Putin has criticised the monopolies US-based social media and tech giants have on European markets.

These sentiments are echoed throughout Europe, with other countries, such as France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland having called for legislation to be imposed to curb the power of tech giants.

The European Commission has also looked to introduce two new digital laws - The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act - in order to provide a competitive atmosphere for European startups.

Read more: France pushes EU for increased regulation of tech giants

The UK has also been looking to implement legislation to incentivise startups within the country.

This comes as they continue to face issues with tech giants in matters such as market power and tax evasion.

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