Russia threatens to severely punish Google, Wikipedia for the problem of fake information

As the Moscow-Kyiv war entered its 52nd day, a Russian court threatened that Wikipedia and Google would face fines of 4 million rubles (nearly $47,000) and 8 million rubles ($96,000) respectively. for not removing “fake” content from its platform, the Interfax News Agency reported.

Earlier, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor in a statement threatened that US-based internet giant Google would be heavily fined for not removing videos that Moscow considers “illegal” from YouTube. Roskomnadzor accused Google-owned YouTube of displaying content “of a terrorist nature”, “promoting the distribution of false content” about what it called the country’s “special military operation”. in Ukraine, and they also accuse the platform of “discrediting” the Russian military, claiming that YouTube contains “extremist” content “with calls for violent acts against Russian servicemen.” “.

Roskomnadzor even asked YouTube to remove ads that it said promoted the destruction of Russian and Belarusian railways.

“YouTube’s actions are of a terrorist nature and threaten the lives and health of Russian citizens,” Roskomnadzor said in a press release. “Roskomnadzor firmly opposes such advertising campaigns and asks Google to stop playing anti-Russian videos as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Wikimedia Foundation (owner of Wikipedia) will face a fine of 4 million rubles (nearly $47,000), for publishing false information on its website. Originally, the Wikipedia page in question describes the history and context of the war, as well as specific military operations, casualties and humanitarian impacts, human rights violations, legal proceedings, international responses economic consequences, economic consequences and media depiction.

It’s not clear what specifics Roskomnadzor’s regulator is trying to remove, but Newsweek reports that the Russian version of the site contains “inaccurate information about special military operations that suggest Russia was fascist.” culture in Ukraine, “including the use of war words”.

In a statement posted online, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media censorship agency, also claimed that the internet open source website was storing untrue data about what the Kremlin called “especially active” military action” in Ukraine, accused of disseminating false details about the actions of Russian troops in the former Soviet neighbor. They also complained that Wikipedia contained “unreliable socially important material, as well as other prohibited information”, presumably referring to articles about the gratuitous invasion.

Roskomnadzor said it has contacted the Wikipedia administrators and asked them to “immediately remove incorrect information on the topic of special military operations of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine, aimed at misinforming the public. Russian users. Otherwise, the statement says the site will have to pay a fine.”

But in a statement, the Wikimedia Foundation, which manages Wikipedia, said that in response to earlier requests by Russian censors, it “will not back down from attempts at censorship and intimidation.” members of our movement We make it our mission to make knowledge free to the world; the Wikimedia Foundation protects and will continue to protect people’s ability to participate in research and contribute for their Wikipedia,” the spokesperson added.

In a statement released after the first takedown request last month, the Wikimedia Foundation said the request “threatened censorship” and denied people access to trustworthy information at a time of crisis. can have “life-changing consequences.” As of March 3, they said the English version of the site had been viewed more than 11 million times, and war articles had been created in more than 99 languages.

“Wikipedia is an important source of factual, reliable information during this crisis,” writes the Wikimedia Foundation. “In recognition of this important role, we will not back down from efforts to censor and intimidate members of our movement. We are on a mission to provide free knowledge to the world.” .

This is not the first time Moscow has fined US-based internet and social media companies for allegedly violating regulations on online communications in Russian. Last December, Facebook’s parent company Meta received a $27 million court fine for “failing to systematically remove banned content” from its platform. At that time, the Tagansky District Court also ruled that Google had ignored the provisions of Russian media law, causing them to face an administrative fine of $98.4 million. Russia has previously introduced penalties against social media companies, but December 2021 is the first time the penalties are based on the defendants’ revenue.

Notably, since the invasion of Russia Starting on February 24, Moscow has steadily increased pressure on social media platforms, accusing them of violating media laws. Not only social media, over the past three months, the Kremlin has also conducted a crackdown on independent media to curb discontent about the war. Authorities have also tried to control the narrative of the attack on Ukraine, which poses a serious threat to free media and human rights, said the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).