Russia fines Google for hosting prohibited content

Russia fines Google for hosting prohibited content

The Tagansky District Court Judiciary District No. 422 in Capital of Russian Federation fined Google a further 2 million rubles ($ 28,085) for failing to remove previously banned content. This latest fine by the court is about 41 million rubles. Federal law of December 2020 added a new Article 13.41in the Russian Federation Code on Administrative Crimes. According to this article, website owners are required to block illicit materials and forbidden content. Any breach in this rule will result in a fine of 800,000 to 8 million rubles. Google allegedly failed to comply with its obligations under the new law. Russian communications oversight agency Roskomnadzor warned regulators earlier this week that it has instituted an administrative protocol to US IT companies for repeated breach of the procedures. This fine is believed to be part of a bigger crackdown on Russian social media companies. In 2021, the Russian court punished Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Google, and TikTok regarding 180 million rubles.

Russia has previously sued Twitter, Google, Facebook, Tik Tok and Telegram for not removing posts featuring children, putting pressure on social media companies hosting content supporting Pro - Navalny's protests, Child Phonography, and drugs. Google has additionally been punished by 3 million rubles for violating Russian privacy law.