Apple and Wikipedia fined by Russian court for hosting 'inaccurate' news about the war in Ukraine

• Russia has fined Apple and the publisher of Wikipedia for hosting "inaccurate" news.
• They were penalized under a law that holds companies responsible for hosting "untruthful" content.

A Russian court has fined Apple and the publisher of Wikipedia for hosting "inaccurate" content about the war in Ukraine.

The court fined both companies under a 2020 law that requires internet companies to block access to information banned in Russia. That law specifically prohibits "information disrespectful to state authorities," as well as "untruthful socially significant information," with fines as high as 8 million rubles, or about $85,000.

Apple was determined to be "liable for the committal of an administrative offense," Judge Timur Vakhrameev said, according to a state news report, and ordered to pay a fine of 400,000 rubles, or roughly $4,200.

The Wikimedia Foundation was also found guilty of the same offense, per Reuters, and assessed a fine of 300,000 rubles, or just under $32,000, for hosting "inaccurate" content.

Neither Apple nor the Wikimedia Foundation responded to requests for comment.

The fine against Apple — which pulled out of Russia following the February 2022 invasion — comes after Moscow recently moved to prohibit state employees from using iPhones, claiming the devices are susceptible to hacking from the West. Apple has denied the charge and independent researchers have found no evidence that the company provides any intelligence service access to user data.

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