Moscow Court Fines Telegram 3.5 Million Rubles for Refusing to Remove Anime Posts with LGBT Content

On June 30, 2026, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow fined Telegram Messenger Inc. 3.5 million rubles for refusing to remove content that Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) classified as “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.”

According to Parni+ , the fine stemmed from two posts in anime-themed channels featuring illustrated female characters kissing. Roskomnadzor identified these posts in February and May 2026: one in the channel “Tyanki kak zhizn|Anime Arts|Anime Edits” (815 subscribers), and another in “Anime Tyanki | Anime Arts | Pics 18+” (over 6,500 subscribers). The regulator argued that Telegram was obligated to independently detect and block such content.

The fine was issued under Article 13.50 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses — “failure by a social network owner to fulfill obligations.” On the same day, identical fines were also issued to Likeme Pte. Ltd, Twitch Interactive, Inc., and Pinterest Inc.

This is not the first such fine for the messaging app: in February 2026, Telegram was already fined 7 million rubles for a similar refusal to comply with Roskomnadzor’s requirements.