Russia fines Google about 50 billion yen, whether it 'did not remove illegal video content from YouTube'

The Federal Service for Supervision in Communications, Information Technology and the Media (Roskomnadzor), the Russian communications regulator, has announced that it will impose a fine of approximately 21.1 billion rubles (approximately 50.5 billion yen) on Google. Roskomnadzor claims that YouTube did not comply with orders to remove 'videos that promote radicalism and terrorism' and 'banned content containing false information about the war in Ukraine.'

Роскомна дзор --Google оштра фован за повторное неудаление запрещенной информации

https://rkn.gov.ru/news/rsoc/news74400.htm

Russia fines Google $ 370 million for repeated content violations, regulator says | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-is-fined-390-mln-russia-not-deleting-banned-content-interfax-2022-07-18/

Roskomnadzor announced in March 2022 that it could fine Google up to 8 million rubles because videos that the Russian government has ruled illegal have not been removed from YouTube. Roskomnadzor also said that if he continues to ignore orders, he will raise the fine to a maximum of 20% of Google's annual revenue.

Russia warns Google to fine up to 20% of annual revenue, saying 'I didn't remove illegal YouTube videos'-GIGAZINE

Roskomnadzor says YouTube 'a lie about the history of special military operations in Ukraine that undermines the trust of the Russian Federation forces,' 'content that promotes radicalism and terrorism,' and 'promotes indifference to the lives and health of minors.' He pointed out that he did not restrict access to 'content that appeals to people, including minors, to participate in unauthorized collective action.' The Taganski District Court has announced that it has ruled a fine of 21,077,392,117.8 rubles based on Google's annual sales in Russia.

At the same time, Roskomnadzor said it would notify Internet users in Russia of violations of Google's law and take steps to ban the distribution of ads involving Google.

'Google clearly ignores Russian law. It's not hard to predict what this attitude will lead to,' said Anton Gorelkin, vice chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Information Policy in Russia. There is a risk of losing the Russian market altogether. '

Russia also fined Google in December 2021 for 7.2 billion rubles (about 10 billion yen at the rate at that time), which is about 8% of annual revenue, for failing to remove banned content. doing. Due to worsening relations with Russia and sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, Google has announced plans to close its business in Russia in May 2022, and Google Russia, Google's Russian subsidiary, has filed for bankruptcy . As a result, Google says it is impossible for government officials to seize the assets of Google Russia and keep it functioning.

Google has not announced any comments regarding whether or not to pay the fine imposed this time.