Moscow has imposed a fine on tech giant Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., for allegedly failing to remove what it terms “false information” related to what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. As per reports from Russia’s TASS news agency, the penalty amounts to three million rubles (approximately $31,845) and was decreed on Thursday.
Russia has been intensifying its scrutiny of several online platforms, accusing them of retaining content that Moscow deems to be in violation of its laws. This move is not unprecedented; just last Tuesday, popular social networking site Reddit also faced financial sanctions from Russia.
In a related development, media outlets reported that Russian courts have imposed a monetary penalty on Wikimedia Foundation, the entity that operates Wikipedia. This decision was reached due to perceived violations of internet-related regulations in the country.
According to available details, the Kalinin court in Tyumen, Russia, had determined that certain pieces of information concerning the Russian army and the locations of some of its units are prohibited from being published online in Russia. The court, acting through the Roskomnadzor agency, demanded the removal of such details from the Wikipedia website.
