Russia is threatening to fine Google over restricted content
The 24-hour deadline is almost up.

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Russia and Google are going at it, with Russia giving the search giant 24 hours to remove content that it considers banned in the country.
This news comes from Reuters, and the 24-hour deadline is actually getting ready to expire. Essentially, Russia wants YouTube to remove 12 different links to “unlawful content” which involved encouraged minors to attend an unsanctioned protest back in January.
Russia’s government watchdog, Roskomnadzor, says it has placed over 26,000 calls to Google regarding the content. It has also been stated that Google will receive a fine between 800,000 and 4 million roubles if it does not restrict access to the content.
While this only amounts to up to $55,000 USD, Russia has also stated that if nothing changes it will face a fine equal to that of 10% of Google’s annual revenue.
In addition to wanting content removed, Russia is claiming Google is restricting access to Russian news outlets like RT and Sputnik.
According to Reuters, “Moscow court documents also showed on Monday that Google was suing Roskomnadzor over the demands it remove banned content.”
With the deadline almost up, we’ll continue to follow this and update accordingly.
Update 5/26/2021 11:05 AM EST: Russia is already making good on its promise to fine Google over ‘illegal’ internet content. According to Engadget, Russian authorities fined Google 6 million rubles, or just under $82,000, for failing to comply with Moscow’s demands to remove prohibited online content.
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