Russia opens case against Google for allegedly 'failing to remove banned content'

Russia’s media regulation and censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, on November 23 informed that it has opened a case against US tech giant Google for allegedly failing to remove banned content from its search engine. According to the censorship agency’s press release, Google’s search results have previously included sites that are blocked in Russia, including the ones containing extremist, pornographic, and suicide-related content. The Russian agency claimed that on average, Google does not remove 30 per cent of “dangerous content” prohibited in the country from its search engine. 

Roskomnadzor, in a statement, said, “The company is accused of failing to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation on the removal of Internet resources containing information banned in Russia from search results”. 

READ: Hackers From Russia, China, Iran Trying To Steal COVID-19 Vaccine Data: Report

READ: Putin: Russia Will Work With Whoever Is Next US President

Google might be fined up to $65,000

As Roskomnadzor opened an administrative case, the procedure could lead to a court case and fine of up to $65,670. According to Russian law, search engine operators are required to remove sites blocked in the nation from their search result. In order to do this, operators have to be connected to Roskomnadzor’s registry of prohibited sites. 

Back in 2019, a Russian court had fined Google 1.5 million roubles after finding it guilty of failing to block content banned in Russia, while other global tech companies have faced challenges in the nation. Google, on the other hand, regularly removes links to banned sites from search engines, but not automatically and only after studying the grounds for the ban. 

Meanwhile, previously, lawmakers presented draft legislation that could allow the government to restrict internet access to US social media platforms deemed to have discriminated against Russian media outlets. According to reports, Microsoft’s LinkedIn is blocked in Russia after a court found that it breached a data-storage rule, passed in 2015, which required all data about Russian citizens to be sorted within the country. 

READ: Russia's Sputnik V Doses Will Be Priced 'much Lower' Than Pfizer And Moderna Vaccines

READ: Russia's Health System Under Strain As The Virus Surges Back