US tech giants have been disseminating political advertising during local election day in Russia, despite having being warned that it would be illegal to do so, telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor has said.
“Those actions can be viewed as interference in the sovereign affairs of Russia and obstruction of the democratic elections,” Roskomnadzor said, slamming the behavior of the foreign companies as “unacceptable.”
The violations by Google, Facebook and YouTube were committed not only on Election Day on Sunday, but also on the Day of Silence, a media moratorium that precedes the day of the vote.
Earlier this week, Roskomnadzor warned the respective services, as well as Instagram, against publishing political ads during this time and promised an “adequate reaction” if the calls were ignored.
