Russia, Video Conference 'Zoom' Fine of 1.6 Billion Won "Operating Without Branch Office"

On the 17th (local time), a Russian court imposed a fine of 115 million rubles (approximately 1.6 billion KRW) on Zoom, a video conferencing platform, for "illegal foreign internet activity in Russia," Interfax news agency reported.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Timur Bahamyev, a magistrate judge in the Tagansky district of Moscow, Russia, ruled that Zoom failed to comply with obligations that foreigners must follow when conducting internet activities within the Russian Federation.

Zoom was charged with operating a business without establishing a branch or representative office in Russia. This was due to repeatedly failing to comply with the localization order to store Russian users' data on servers located in Russia. The fine was set at about one-tenth of Zoom's revenue in Russia last year.

Meanwhile, Russia has blocked access to Instagram and Facebook within its territory, accusing Meta of "extremist activities." In June, a Russian court fined Meta 3 million rubles for WhatsApp, a messenger service operated by Meta, violating orders to delete illegal information.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.