Google Fined RUB 3 Million in Russia Over YouTube Movies: Stories

A Russian courtroom fined Alphabet’s Google RUB 3 million (almost Rs. 31 lakh) on Thursday for failing to delete YouTube movies it mentioned promoted “LGBT propaganda” and “false data” about Russia’s army marketing campaign in Ukraine, Russian information companies reported.

During the last yr Moscow has levied dozens of fines in opposition to Western tech corporations as a part of a drive to ramp up management over what Russian web customers see on-line.

In addition to passing strict censorship legal guidelines shortly after it dispatched troops into Ukraine, Russia additionally final yr strengthened its legal guidelines in opposition to what it calls the “promotion of LGBT propaganda”.

Beneath the brand new legislation, which widens Russia’s interpretation of what qualifies as “LGBT propaganda” and has been closely criticised by impartial human rights teams, any motion or the spreading of any data that’s thought of an try to advertise homosexuality in public, on-line, or in movies, books or promoting, may incur a heavy high quality.

Russian prosecutors mentioned Google had refused to take away a number of movies posted on YouTube, together with one from a blogger deemed a “international agent” by Moscow about how same-sex {couples} elevate kids and concerning the LGBT group in St. Petersburg, the TASS information company reported.

The Russian subsidiary of Alphabet’s Google filed for chapter final yr after authorities seized its financial institution accounts following a December 2021 high quality of RUB 7.2 billion roubles (almost Rs. 767 crore)) over what Russian authorities mentioned was the corporate’s “repeated failure” to delete content material.

© Thomson Reuters 2023