Russian court fines companies 22M rubles over data localization claims

Reuters reports the Tagansky District Court of Moscow issued fines totaling 22 million rubles to WhatsApp, Snap, Tinder and Hotels.com following decisions on alleged violations of Russia's data localization laws. WhatsApp was issued the largest penalty of 18 million rubles and Tinder was fined 2 million rubles while Snap and Hotels.com were assessed 1 million ruble penalties. Each company allegedly refused to store Russian user data in the country according to Russian law, but a Hotels.com lawyer said the company refutes the claim after it stopped processing Russians' data April 1.