Banned content penalty imposed on technology giants in Russia
Quick Look
The Taganskiy District Court in Moscow fined Telegram, Google and Microsoft millions of rubles in total for failing to remove banned content.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Russia regularly imposes fines on foreign technology companies for not removing banned content.
The Taganskiy District Court in the capital Moscow decided on the lawsuits filed against the companies in question.
Concluding that the law was not complied with because the banned content on these platforms was not removed, the court ordered Telegram to pay a fine of 3.8 million rubles, Google to pay a fine of 3.8 million rubles, and Microsoft to pay a fine of 3.5 million rubles.
In Russia, fines have previously been imposed on Google, Telegram, Microsoft, as well as Apple, TikTok and other foreign internet platforms for reasons such as not removing banned content and not fulfilling legal obligations in the country.
While the total fines imposed on Google based on its turnover since the end of 2021 have exceeded 29 billion rubles, it is stated that the company's enforcement debt in the country is over 20 billion rubles.
While restrictions were also imposed on Telegram's activities in Russia, the total fines imposed by the courts in Moscow on the company in the first 6 months of this year alone exceeded 100 million rubles.
Open Questions
- Will companies pay fines?
- Will activity restrictions in Russia expand?
