Russia: Issued ruling in lawsuit against WhatsApp for failing to remove online content

On 1 June 2023, the Moscow City Court issued its ruling in the public lawsuit against WhatsApp LLC (Case No. 05-0605/422/2023), imposing a fine of RUB 3 million on the company. The allegations against the messaging service provider stem from the failure to remove a chat room that contained offers to sell an antidepressant drug in violation of the Code of Administrative Offences. The lawsuit was initiated in response to information received by Roskomnadzor about the offer for unrestricted sale of the drug Lyrica, whose sale and distribution is banned in Russia, through a separate chat within the application.