TikTok Agreed to Cooperate With Russia in Identifying and Removing ‘Illegal’ Content, Says Lawmaker

Moscow, April 10: Chinese short-video making app TikTok has expressed willingness to cooperate with Russia in identifying and removing “illegal” content on its platform, Vasily Piskarev, who heads the Russian lower chamber’s commission on investigation of foreign interference, said on Friday. Vasily Piskarev said the conversation between the Russian authorities and TikTok representatives was constructive. Russia Slowing Down Twitter Over Content Standoff.

“The dialogue was quite constructive, we offered assistance in explaining our legislation, and they (TikTok) are ready to cooperate,” Piskarev was quoted by Sputnik News as saying. “From January-February, over 1,000 pieces of illegal content were released on the TikTok digital platform: calls on teenagers to take part in illegal protests, calls on teenagers to disobey law enforcement agents and engage in violence against them, and, most regrettably and outrageously, calls on teenagers to commit suicide, we have detected over 250 pieces of such content,” the lawmaker underlined.

Piskarev also said the TikTok representatives have agreed to make efforts to remove “illegal” contents from their platform. Earlier this week, a district court in Moscow imposed a fine of 2.6 million rubles ($340,000) on TikTok over its “systematic failure” to delete “illegal” information, including about unauthorised rallies that took place across Russia in January 2021. US, Russia Said Close to Deal on Nuclear Warhead Freeze.

Russia has accused social media platforms, especially developed by American companies, of inciting “anti-Kremlin” sentiments and protests. It was noted that social networks, along with Chinese-owned TikTok, played “a pivotal role” in the anti-Kremlin protests that accompanied the return and imprisonment of the opposition leader Alexey Navalny this year.

(The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Apr 10, 2021 08:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).