Russia fines Zoom $1.18 mln for operating without local office
Technology
Moscow has clashed with foreign technology companies over content, censorship, data
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday fined Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) 115 million roubles ($1.18 million) for operating without opening a local office, the RIA news agency reported.
Zoom did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Moscow has clashed with foreign technology companies over content, censorship, data and local representation in a simmering dispute that intensified after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022.
RIA cited judge Timur Vakhrameyev as saying the fine had been set at a 10th of Zoom's 2022 revenues in Russia.
Zoom was fined 15 million roubles last week in what a court said was a repeated failure to store data that it held on Russian citizens on a server in Russia.
Other companies, such as Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Apple (AAPL.O), have been fined heavily in Russia in the last few years.
Soon after Russia started what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Meta (META.O) was found guilty of "extremist activity" in Russia, which it denied, and its Facebook and Instagram platforms were banned.
