MOSCOW, Oct 21 Reuters - A Moscow court on Thursday said it had sent state bailiffs to enforce the collection of 17 million roubles $238,845 in fines imposed on U.S. social media giant Facebook for failing to delete content that Russia deems illegal.
The Tagansky District Court in Moscow issued the order over four fines that Facebook has not paid, the court said in a statement, the second time this month it has sought the assistance of bailiffs in bringing Facebook to heel.
The court said Facebook, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, had asked for more time before the ruling is enforced on Thursday, citing technical problems.
The state communications regulator Roskomnadzor says fines totalling around 70 million roubles have been imposed on Facebook this year, but that the company has not paid any, highlighting the challenges Moscow faces in cracking down on foreign tech giants.
Roskomnadzor is now seeking to impose a much bigger fine on Facebook that would total 5 - 10% of the company's annual turnover in Russia due to what it says are repeated legal violations.
On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor said it would seek to fine Google a similar percentage of its annual Russian turnover for the same content violations.