Roskomnadzor Sues Google And Meta Platform Inc., Accused Of Repeated Mistakes

Roskomnadzor, has filed cases against US technology companies Google and Meta Platform Inc. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor has filed a case against US technology companies Google and Meta Platform Inc., which could be fined on their annual turnover in Russia. The lawsuit was announced by a Moscow court on Friday, December 3.

Reuters reported last October that Roskomnadzor threatened Google Alphabet and Facebook Meta with fines based on a percentage of their annual turnover for repeated failures to remove content Moscow deems illegal.

Russian law does allow companies to be fined between 5% and 10% of annual turnover for repeated violations.

Moscow's Tagansky District Court said the court date for the two companies was set for December 24.

Russia has been increasing pressure on foreign technology companies for a long time. They seek to assert greater control over the Internet, such as slowing Twitter's speed since March and regularly fines others for content violations.

Google has paid a fine of more than 32 million rubles (Rp 6.2 billion) this year. Google, Twitter and Meta have significantly reduced the number of posts that Moscow has banned on their platforms.

Russia last month demanded that 13 foreign technology companies, mostly from the US, formally have representative offices on Russian soil by the end of 2021 or face possible restrictions or bans outright.