Facebook Fined $50,000 for Violating Russian Data Localization Law

Written by: Brett Lawrence, Esq.

As of 2016, Russia requires all technology companies who collect and process the personal data of Russian citizens to store that data on servers located in Russia. Recently, Russian authorities discovered that Facebook was not complying with this law and subsequently levied a fine of 4 million ruble ($53,000) against the social media giant.

A Moscow court stated Facebook had paid the fine and that any further proceedings against the company had been dropped. Other international businesses—including Apple and Google—have been more compliant and managed to transfer Russian personal data to data centers in the country.

Back in 2019, Facebook was previously fined 3,000 ruble ($50) for refusing to comply with Russia’s localization law. Considering that this new fine accounts for about 90 seconds’ worth of profit, Facebook is not likely to change its ways any time soon.