MOSCOW: A Russian court on Thursday fined Meta Platforms Inc’s WhatsApp messenger and Snapchat owner Snap Inc. for an alleged refusal to store the data of Russian users domestically, news agencies reported.
Moscow has clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that have escalated since Russia sent forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Moscow’s Tagansky District Court fined WhatsApp 18 million roubles ($301,255) and Snap 1 million roubles, news agencies reported. WhatsApp was fined for the same offense last August.
Meta and Snap did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia restricted access to Meta’s flagship platforms Facebook and Instagram, as well as fellow social network Twitter, soon after the conflict in Ukraine began, a move critics have cast as an effort by Russia to exert greater control over information flows.
Meta was found guilty of “extremist activity” in Russia and saw an appeal against the tag rejected in June, but Moscow has permitted WhatsApp to remain available.
According to the ruling, when referring to Meta in the public sphere, organizations and individuals are required to include the disclaimer that Meta’s activities are banned on Russian territory.
Microsoft’s LinkedIn has been blocked in Russia for years after a court found it breached the data-storage rule, which was passed in 2015.
Russia fines WhatsApp, Snapchat owner over data storage violations
https://arab.news/p7c8p
Russia fines WhatsApp, Snapchat owner over data storage violations
- News agencies reported that Moscow’s Tagansky District Court fined WhatsApp 18 million roubles ($301,255) and Snap 1 million roubles.
Israeli court overturns conviction of officer who assaulted Palestinian journalist, citing ‘Oct. 7 PTSD’
- Judge sentenced Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service, saying officer “devoted his life to Israel’s security” and conviction was “disproportionate to severity of his actions”
- Footage shows Sofer throwing photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque
LONDON: An Israeli court overturned the conviction of a border police officer who assaulted a Palestinian journalist, ruling his actions were influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder from serving during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced officer Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service for assaulting Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf in occupied East Jerusalem in December 2023.
Footage shows Sofer and other officers drawing weapons, throwing Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque amid heavy restrictions.
Alkharouf was hospitalized with facial and body injuries. His cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, was also attacked.
Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf violently attacked by Israeli army in occupied East Jerusalem while covering Palestinian prayers near Al-Aqsa Mosque
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 15, 2023
Incident highlights ongoing restrictions on Friday prayers and press freedom in region https://t.co/exT6XqjEaA pic.twitter.com/pqugK9HnOt
Sofer had been convicted in September 2024 of assault causing bodily harm (acquitted of threats) and initially faced six months’ community service, as recommended by Mahash, the Justice Ministry’s police misconduct unit.
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the defense request to cancel the conviction, replacing it with community service.
He cited Sofer’s PTSD from responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, noting the officer had “no prior criminal record” and had “devoted his life to Israel’s security.”
“The court cannot ignore this when considering whether the defendant’s conviction should stand,” he said, adding that while the incident is “serious and does cross the criminal threshold,” the conviction in place could cause Sofer harm “disproportionate to the severity of his actions.”
The ruling comes amid surging attacks on journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported Israel responsible for two-thirds of the 129 media workers killed worldwide in 2025, the deadliest year on record, citing a “persistent culture of impunity” and lack of transparent probes.
Reporters Without Borders called the Israeli army the “worst enemy of journalists” in its 2025 report, with nearly half of global reporter deaths in Gaza.
Foreign journalists face raids, arrests and intimidation. In late January 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court granted a delay on ruling a ban on foreign media access to Gaza.
