Russia has reportedly fined TikTok for refusing to delete content which it said violates its laws on so-called ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’.
The social media platform’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, was fined three million roubles (£44,000) on 4 October, according to Moscow’s Tagansky District Court.
Signed by Vladimir Putin in 2013, Russia’s ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’ laws ban the promotion of all “non-traditional” sexual relationships among minors.
They have been used as justification to stop Pride marches, prevent minors from watching content with LGBTQ+ themes and to detain activists.
The case against TikTok, the latest Big Tech company involved in a dispute with Moscow, was the result of it being accused of “promoting non-traditional values, LGBT, feminism and a distorted representation of traditional sexual values,” according to news agencies.
Streaming service Twitch was also fined four million roubles (£59,000) after it hosted an interview with Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It comes after it was fined an additional three million roubles for a separate interview with Arestovych earlier this year.
Russian lawmakers recently proposed extending the country’s ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’ laws to all adults.
Despite homosexuality being legal in Russia since 1993, LGBTQ+ people face ongoing societal challenges in the country.
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity are not prohibited by law and no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ exist.
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