Russia has been vocal about taking action against the spread of false information. The country has repeatedly threatened different sites, including Google, Instagram, Discord, Pinterest, Zoom, Telegram, etc., to beware of spreading any data that infringes laws.
Roskomnadzor (Russia’s state communication watchdog) stated that punitive measures are taken against such IT companies. Furthermore, he said that measures would be taken if the company fails to take down the content which has been flagged as illicit. However, the measures that would be adopted are not defined as of now.
Russian court fined U.S-based live streaming service Twitch 2 million roubles ($33,000). Followed by Messenger service Telegram with 11 million roubles ($179,000) for violation of censorship laws.
On July 26, Russia implied charges worth 2 billion roubles ($34.2 million) on Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O). Russia alleged that Google has miserably failed in coping with the restrictions levied by the country that encircles the spread of any source of information or data.
Despite repeated injunctions, Google didn’t take down the content that forged Russia’s authenticity. Along with the hefty fine, Google would not be permitted to display adverts or access them as information sources, in any way, whatsoever.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) stated that the company abused its prevalent position in the YouTube Video hosting services market and no prior information or details were provided by them.
Later that week, the court ordered Google to pay 21.1 roubles ($358.7 million) for disseminating fake news about Russia vs Ukraine conflict.
This has led to the conclusion that Google has been imposed with several fines by Russia’s watchdogs. Furthermore, Russia has been slapping IT companies left, right and centre when it comes to fake news violations.
