Reddit faces first fine in Russia for not deleting 'banned content'

Social media site Reddit faces being fined for the first time in Russia for not deleting "banned content" that Moscow says discredits the Russian army, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a Moscow court.

Reddit joins a list of sites under scrutiny in Russia for failing to remove content that Moscow deems illegal, including Wikimedia, streaming service Twitch, and Google.

Reddit could be fined up to 4 million roubles ($43,895) for failing to remove "knowingly false information" about the Soviet Union's actions during World War Two and content that discredits the Russian Federation's armed forces, as well as other "extremist information."

Reddit was not immediately available to comment.

Controlling coverage of the conflict

Since invading Ukraine last year, Russia has tightened controls over coverage of the conflict by media and bloggers, introducing tougher punishments for "discrediting" the actions of its armed forces or publishing false information about them.