Moscow City Court Rejects Google's Appeal Regarding A Fine Of IDR 788.5 Billion

Google was fined by the Moscow court. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - On Wednesday, April 10, a Moscow City court announced that it rejected an appeal filed by Alphabet's Google against a fine of 4.6 billion rubles (IDR 788.5 billion) imposed for failing to remove what Russia considers false information about the war in Ukraine.

The fine was imposed at the end of December 2023 and counted as part of Google's annual turnover in Russia. The company had previously been subject to sanctions based on turnover of 7.2 billion rubles (IDR 1.2 trillion) at the end of 2021 and 21.1 billion rubles (IDR 3.6 trillion) in August 2022. However, the appeal filed by Google in both cases was also rejected.

Google did not provide direct comments regarding the court's decision.

Conflicts between Russia and foreign technology companies over content, censorship, data and local representations have escalated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The court has previously reported that the fine was also imposed due to Google's failure to remove extremist content and distribution of what Russia calls LGBT propaganda.

Although Alphabet's YouTube, which is owned, has become a specific target of Russian outrage, but in contrast to Twitter and social media from Meta Platforms, Facebook and Instagram, the platform is not blocked.