WhatsApp receives the highest fine for ignoring previous warnings. Russia now wants the chat service to pay 18 million Russian rubles, equivalent to almost 280,000 euros.
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Other companies get much lower fines. For example, Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, has to pay 2 million rubles (32,000 euros). Snap and Hotel.com will be fined EUR 16,000 and Spotify of EUR 8,000.
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Telecom regulator Roskomnadzor says the companies have not proven in time that they store data from Russian users in Russia itself. This has been mandatory since 2015. The country says the law is necessary to ensure that foreign intelligence agencies do not have access to personal data.
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The relationship between Western tech companies and Russia is difficult. This has only gotten worse since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For example, Russia has restricted access to Facebook and Instagram. According to the Russians, parent company Meta is guilty of extremist activities. Meta chat service WhatsApp still works in the country. Spotify suspended its Russian operations altogether last March.
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