Moscow Again Fines Google For Failing To Comply With Regulations, But Hopes They Stay In Russia

Google is expected to stay in Russia even though it continues to get fines. (photo: pixabay doc)

JAKARTA - A Moscow court on Thursday, June 16 announced that it has fined Google Alphabet of 15 million rubles (IDR 3.7 billion). This fine was given because Google is considered to have repeatedly failed to comply with Russian laws that require technology companies to localize user data.

Russia has issued several fines to foreign technology companies in recent years for various offences. Critics have called this an attempt by Moscow to exert greater control over the internet.

Google itself declined to comment on their latest fine. Google has been getting a lot of fines from the Russian government. This makes Google even more uncomfortable in Russia.

On the other hand The deputy head of the State Duma's parliamentary committee on information policy, Anton Gorelkin, said Thursday that he hopes Google will remain in Russia. Moscow has no intention of blocking YouTube, Gorelkin added.

Meanwhile, Russia itself has restricted access to Twitter and the mainstay social networks of Meta Platform Inc, Facebook and Instagram. But Google and YouTube's video hosting service, although under pressure, remain available for now.

Moscow specifically objected to YouTube's treatment of Russian media, which it had blocked. But Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the State Duma's committee on information policy, said the US company was not yet at risk of the same fate.

"Blocking is an extreme measure and YouTube and Google have not crossed this line of reasonableness, but they are engaged in an information war against Russia," Gorelkin told reporters at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Moscow's Tagansky District Court said it had fined what it described as Google's repeated failure to store personal data of Russian users in a database on Russian soil. Google removed some employees from Russia after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in late February.

Photo-sharing app LikeMe was also fined 1.5 million rubles for the first offense. LikeMe could not be reached for comment.

Google's ability to pay could be hampered as its Russian subsidiary announced plans to file for bankruptcy in May, after authorities seized its bank accounts.

Gorelkin said Google could not be a global leader without operations in China and pointed to Yandex, considered Russia's answer to Google, as a worthy competitor. "I'm sure Google will stay in Russia if it doesn't cross the line," he said.