RUSSIA FINES GOOGLE $31,000 FOR FAILING TO DELETE BANNED CONTENT

A Moscow magistrate’s court has fined US tech giant Google 3 mln rubles ($31,800) for its failure to delete questionable information about the special military operation in Ukraine, as well as information banned in Russia, a TASS correspondent reports from the court.

“[The court hereby rules to] find Google guilty of committing an administrative violation under Part 2, Article 13.41 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses and impose a penalty in the form of an administrative fine in the amount of 3 million rubles,” the judge said from the bench.

According to the case files, the company had been served with an official notification requiring it to delete videos from the YouTube portal that instructed viewers on ways of illegally entering guarded facilities, the presence in which could jeopardize a person’s life and health, as well as videos containing false information about the special military operation in Ukraine.

Earlier, the same court had repeatedly imposed fines on Google for administrative violations, including a 3 mln ruble fine in May for hosting videos on YouTube that consisted of propaganda promoting non-traditional sexual relations, as well as the illegal practice of “roofing” (climbing up tall structures to enter their roof premises – TASS), and defaming Russia’s armed forces.