Russia’s internet watchdog – Roskomnadzor, has fined Google $358 million for failing to remove the prohibited content from its Search and YouTube.
Citing this, the regulator, as per Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses, fixed a penalty of 10% of Google’s total turnover in the country. This comes after the company was blamed for repeated offenses the same.
Penalizing Google For Non-Compliance
Google is one of the many companies against Russia in its war in Ukraine. The search giant was forced to file for bankruptcy in Russia due to its incapacity to run a business in the country after a series of fines and asset confiscation.
Yet, the Russian regulators are penalizing Google for various non-compliance issues now. The latest one is coming from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet watchdog, on the count of not removing the following banned content from its Search and YouTube;
- Information about the course of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, which discredits the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
- Content promoting extremism and terrorism.
- Content promoting harmful acts for the life and health of minors.
- Information that promotes participation in unauthorized mass actions.
Google was slapped a $98 million fine late last year for similar reasons. And since it’s repeatedly failing to do so, the Roskomnadzor has finally taken the big step from its Code of Administrative Offenses – to penalize a company based on its annual turnover in the nation.
As per it, Google is eligible to pay 10% of its annual turnover in Russia – amounting to 21 billion rubles (or $358 million). Plus, the Russian users of Google Search and YouTube can no longer place ads or use them for obtaining information.
Twitch met with the same fate in Russia last month, where the regulator banned the video streaming platform for failing to remove banned content.
