Russian Court Fines IDR 786 Billion Of Google For "Fake" And "Extremist" Content

Google has been fined again by the Russian court. (photo: ary/voi.id)

JAKARTA - On Wednesday, December 20, a Russian court gave a fine of 4.6 billion rubles (approximately IDR 786 billion) to Google, Alphabet's subsidiary. They are accused of not removing information called "fake" about conflicts in Ukraine and other topics, the TASS news agency reported.

Russia has clashed with foreign technology companies over content, censorship, data and local representations in the dispute that escalated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The RIA news agency reported that the fine was also imposed because Google failed to remove "extremist content" and the spread of what Russia called "LGBT propaganda". Meanwhile, Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Russia calls the conflict in Ukraine a "special military operation". The Russian Supreme Court ruled in November that LGBT activists should be considered "extremist", a move criticized by gay and transgender community representatives concerned it would lead to arrests and prosecutions.

Alphabet's YouTube, belonging to Alphabet, is a special target of Russia's government dissatisfaction, but unlike Meta Platforms' Twitter and Instagram platforms, YouTube has yet to be blocked.

This fine is calculated as part of Google's annual turnover in Russia. The company was previously fined 7.2 billion rubles by the end of 2021 and 21.1 billion rubles by August 2022.