Tech giants, Google have been fined the whooping sum of $360 million over the display of “false information.”
The Moscow court ruled that Google refused to remove content concerning Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
It said Google-owned video platform, YouTube failed to block “false information” on the offensive in Ukraine, “extremist and terrorist propaganda” and content “calling on minors to participate in unauthorised demonstrations”.
The regulator, Roskomnadzor said a repeated conviction on Google caused the huge fine.
Authorities in Russia have in recent times increased the pressure on Western-owned social media platforms with repeated fines and threats towards depressing criticism and free speech in the country.
Google has since exited the Russian market like most Western companies in protest against Russia’s military invasion in Ukraine.
Vladimir Zykov, an expert cited by Russian news agency Ria-Novosti, said the fine was the largest ever imposed on a Western tech firm by a Russian court.
Russian authorities can impose on Google “as many fines as they wish, they won’t receive the money” as the firm has pulled out of the country, he said.
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