Russian officials have steadily increased pressure on social media platforms, accusing them of failing to purge material related to drug abuse, weapons and explosives.
A Moscow court on Friday fined Google nearly $100 million for failing to remove content restricted by local law, a fine that reflects Russian efforts to increase pressure on large technology companies.
MOSCOW: A Moscow court fined Google nearly $100 million on Friday for failing to remove content restricted by local law, a fine that reflects Russian efforts to increase pressure on large technology companies.
The Tagansky District Court ruled that Google repeatedly neglected to remove restricted content and ordered the company to pay an administrative fine of approximately 7.2 billion rubles (about $98.4 million).
Google said it would study the court documents and then decide on its next course of action.
Russian officials have steadily increased pressure on social media platforms, accusing them of failing to purge material related to drug abuse, weapons and explosives. Earlier this year, officials blamed tech companies for not removing announcements about unrestricted protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Russian courts earlier this year imposed small fines on Google, Facebook and Twitter. Friday’s decision of the Moscow Court calculated the size of the fine based on revenue for the first time.
Russian officials have also demanded that foreign tech giants store personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, threatening them with fines or possible sanctions if they fail to comply.
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