Russia fines Apple, Wikipedia for prohibited information

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The Russian government fined Apple Thursday for not removing information about the war in Ukraine, which has been prohibited in Russia.

Separately on Thursday, the same court fined the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, about $31,000 for the same stated reasons.

"Apple Distribution International was recognized as liable for the committal of an administrative offense stipulated in Part 2, Article 13.41 of the Russian Administrative Offenses Code by the ruling of the justice of the peace of judicial section N. 422 in Tagansky District of Moscow and was subjected to an administrative fine amounting to 400,000 rubles ($4,200)," said Judge Timur Vakhrameev, according to the state-backed Tass news agency.

According to Tass, the court session was held behind closed doors.

Apple representatives asked for a closed-door session to avoid disclosing trade secrets. The court partially agreed to the request, asking people who weren't representing the company to leave the court before ruling, despite not officially declaring a closed session.

The court said Apple failed to remove applications and podcasts containing what the Russian government characterizes as containing false information about the war in Ukraine, which Russia classifies as a "special military operation."

Last year, Apple pulled its products from Russia in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In July, the Russian government barred government employees from using iPhones, claiming they pose a security risk.

Earlier this year, the messaging service WhatsApp was fined for failing to remove prohibited information.