The world’s largest search engine company Google was fined 15 million rubles by a Moscow court for repeatedly failing to comply with requirements for technology companies to localize Russian law on user data.
Russia has imposed multiple fines on foreign tech companies in recent years for a series of infringements that critics say signal Moscow’s attempt to tighten its grip on the internet. In this regard, Google declined to comment.
Russia is understood to have restricted access to Twitter and Meta’s flagship social networks, Facebook and Instagram, and Moscow has specifically objected to YouTube’s handling of Russian media, which it has blocked.
While Google and its YouTube video hosting service are under pressure, it is still available. Anton Gorelkin, deputy director of the State Duma’s information policy committee, said Google is not currently at risk of being blocked.
“The blockade is an extreme measure, and YouTube and Google, while not crossing this plausible line, are engaged in an information war against Russia, ” Gorelkin told reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The Tagansky District Court in Moscow said it had fined Google repeatedly for failing to store personal data of Russian users in a database on Russian territory. Gorkin said that without a presence in China, Google could not have become a global leader. “I am sure that if Google doesn’t cross the line, it will stay in Russia.”
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