Russia fines Apple two seconds of profit over promoting LGBTQ+ rights
Apple has been fined $131,000 by a Russian court that found it guilty of breaking the country's laws on what it describes as LGBT propaganda.
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In 2023, a Russian kangaroo court fined Apple $42,000, or what was then two seconds of profit, over "spreading false information about the Ukraine conflict." Apple News had basically included news reports saying that there was such a conflict, which broke Russian laws against discussions siding with Ukraine.
Now a different Russian court has also fined Apple around two seconds' worth of profit. It's just that by 2025, that per-second profit was much higher.
The new fine by Moscow's Tagansky District Court is for the equivalent of $131,000. According to local independent news site Mediazona, the fine was originally for $93,500 and concerned three separate breaches Russia's laws against the promotion of "LGBT propaganda."
However, as those three unspecified charges were being decided, a fourth was filed with the court and heard immediately. This one regarded a failure to delete content at the request of Russian authorities, and amounted to $37,400.
According to Mediazona, Apple's lawyer Elena Chetverikova opened her arguments by asking the court to close proceedings to the public because they might include proprietary information. Judge Alexandra Anokhina agreed.
Consequently there is no detail regarding the three LGBT propaganda charges, nor any further detail about Apple failing to remove content. The press was allowed back in to hear the decisions, but reportedly the judge read them so fast that it wasn't possible to register the details.
The court's press secretary then responded to requests for release of the official court record, by solely saying that "the hearing is closed." At present, there appears to be no mention of the case Moscow's Tagansky District Court official website.,
Russia and LGBTQ+
Russian law officially treats what it calls the "international LGBT movement" as an "extremist" organization, according to The Moscow Times. In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court outlawed the movement, adding it to the country's list of banned and terrorist organizations.
The country's anti-LGBT stance is far from new, either. In 2018, Russia had Apple block the Apple Watch Pride face.
Then in 2019, in a convoluted case regarding the App Store including crypto apps, a Russian man sued Apple for turning him gay. He was suing for $15,000, but so far there is no record of either him winning, or the case being dismissed.
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