Russia fines Booking millions of rubles over alleged LGBT propaganda

A Russian court has fined Booking, a hotel reservation platform, 6 million rubles ($74,600) for alleged “LGBT propaganda” over a message referring to “Pride Month” sent to hotels.

The Tagansky District Court of Moscow imposed two separate 3 million-ruble fines on Booking for “LGBT propaganda” and failure to remove prohibited materials.

The case was triggered by a newsletter sent to foreign hotel partners that mentioned accommodating LGBT guests during Pride events. 

Roskomnadzor, Russia's media and communications regulator, discovered a photograph attached to the announcement in March and ordered its removal. Booking said the page had been taken down on March 11.

By Jeyhun Aghazada