Russia fines streaming site Twitch over 31-second ‘fake’ video, Russian media report

FILE PHOTO – The lobby of Twitch Interactive Inc, a social video platform and gaming community owned by Amazon, is seen in San Francisco, California, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – A court in Russia has fined streaming service Twitch 2 million roubles ($33,000) for hosting a short video containing what it calls “fake” information about alleged war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to fine sites – including Google (GOOGL.O), Twitter (TWTR.N) and Wikipedia – it accuses of hosting “fake” content related to its military campaign in Ukraine.

The court accused Twitch, a U.S.-based live-streaming service popular with video gamers, of failing to remove a 31-second clip of a girl from the town of Bucha, the Kommersant newspaper reported. It did not specify the content of the video.

Twitch, which is owned by Amazon (AMZN.O), did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine and its allies accuse Russian forces of committing atrocities in Bucha, a satellite town of Kyiv, after Moscow launched its invasion in February. Russia denies the charge.

Earlier, RIA reported that Telegram messenger was hit with two fines totalling 11 million roubles ($179,000) for refusing to delete channels which allegedly showed how to “sabotage” military vehicles and hosting “unreliable data” about Russia’s progress in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

($1 = 61.3000 roubles)

Reporting by Reuters;
Editing by Alison Williams and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.