Ufa man fined for fake shock content to boost Max channel
A court in Ufa fined Rustam Akmalov 30,000 rubles under the article on 'the dissemination of knowingly false information in social networks,' allegedly for advertising a channel in the messenger Max using 'shocking' information.
Consensus
- Rustam Akmalov was fined 30,000 rubles by a court in Ufa.
- The fine was imposed under the article on 'dissemination of knowingly false information in social networks'.
- Akmalov was the administrator of a VKontakte group called 'Обмен авто авторынок Уфа Бashкортостан'.
- He posted a photo of a destroyed building with a link to a Max channel claiming it contained details of a recent incident.
- The photo depicted a building in Magnitogorsk that was damaged in a December 2018 gas explosion.
- No recent incident reports were found in the Max channel.
- The court accepted the prosecution's argument that the claim about 'details' was false and intended to inflate audience numbers.
- The case is reported as the first of its kind in Russia.
Coverage (2 sources)
- Court fined Ufa man for attracting subscribers to messenger Max using "shocking" information — Радио Свобода
- Court fined Ufa man for attracting subscribers to messenger Max using "shocking" information — Idel.Реалии