Russia fines Google $370 million for refusing to bow to Putin's war propaganda

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After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Google crafted its exit strategy from Russia, suspending all advertising in March, then blocking Play Store app sales and removing the most of its employees in May. After that, Google only continued to provide free services to Russian Internet users, such as search, Gmail, Maps or YouTube, and now Google could pay big for this decision.

This week, Russian regulator Roskomnadzor announced that a Russian court had ordered the tech giant to pay its highest fine since the start of the war in Ukraine, citing Google's "repeated failure" to remove "prohibited content" deemed "false". Unless Google successfully appeals the decision, it will have to shell out around $374 million not to restrict content that goes against Russian interests. Examples include content discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, promoting extremism, or inciting young people to join mass protests (which Russia has banned).

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible appeal, but the company knew a fine was coming. He may not have known how high a fine was. Roskomnadzor warned Google last month that it would be fined 5-10% of its annual revenue, but TechCrunch estimates that ultimately "the new fine would be around 15% of revenue. company's annual. (Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to Ars' request to clarify what percentage of Google's annual revenue this fee represents.)

It is not yet clear whether Google will pay or resist the order. Earlier, in December 2021, Russia ordered Google to pay a $98 million fine, which Reuters said was "the first such revenue-based fine in Russia." Roskomnadzor says Google paid that previous fine, and since then other small fines have been reported.

The latest court order also imposed additional penalties for Google's "systematic violations of Russian law". These include "coercive measures" designed to pressure Google to comply with laws, including labels on YouTube videos to notify viewers of violations of Russian law, and a "ban on streaming advertisements of the company".

Google's repeated failure to remove content is part of the company's continued resistance to turning YouTube into a Russian propaganda tool. The private non-profit organization RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, which strives to provide information in countries where the free press is restricted, reported that "Roskomnadzor has ordered media outlets across the country to only publish information about the war in Ukraine provided by official sources". He later banned any media from reporting on Western governments referring to the conflict as a war - preferring the term "special military operation" - or calling the invasion of Ukraine "unwarranted and unprovoked". .

That's the definition of propaganda: limiting what is published to a single political point of view. Russian-imposed media restrictions are helping Russian President Vladimir Putin in his efforts to control the narrative of the war in Ukraine. Earlier this year, he sought to extend the legal repercussions...