Russia will fine Apple, Google

Originally, the Moscow side was in conflict with Big Tech over content, censorship, data in a simmering dispute that has unleashed an all-out information war, since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Recently, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it had opened administrative lawsuits against Alphabet Inc’s Google and six other foreign technology companies, for allegedly refusing to store data individual Russian users on servers in Russia, a move part of a long-standing government effort to tighten grip on online activity.

Last year, Russia fined Google 3 million rubles ($46,540) for not storing personal data of Russian users in a database on Russian territory and on May 27. Roskomnadzor said it had opened a new case over Google’s repeated failure to comply with Russian laws.

Here, Roskomnadzor came up against Google, a protocol that did not comply with the legal requirement to localize user data in Russia. The court hearing in this case is scheduled for June 16 – the Google company can be fined up to 18 million rubles.

As such, a hearing on the new case has been scheduled. “A trial in an administrative case against Google under section 9 of Article 13.11 of the Code for Handling Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation (“Continuous violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of personal data” “) will take place at 11:30 am Moscow time on June 16” – journalists of the Roskomnadzor agency said at the Moscow Magistrates Court.

Google declined to comment, but it could be fined between 6-18 million rubles, Roskomnadzor said in a statement. At the same time, Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor also said it had opened lawsuits against six other companies – Airbnb, Pinterest, Likeme, Twitch, Apple and United Parcel Service – for alleged first-time violations and potentially fined 1-6 million rubles. Repeat offenders can be fined in the amount of 6 million to 18 million rubles.

In the past, Russia’s state media watchdog Roskomnadzor said Google and Meta were specifically accused of violating a ban on the distribution of content that incites extremist ideology, offends religious beliefs and promotes minors engage in risky behavior, among other things.

On the other hand, Russian authorities continuously increase pressure on social networking platforms, accusing them of failing to filter out content related to drug, weapon and explosive abuse as well as extremist views. group.

Alexander Khinshtein, head of the information policy committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, said the lawsuits with large fines would send a clear message to all the information technology giants. The Reuters team was not able to contact Likeme at this time, while the other five companies were not immediately available for comment on this latest Russian allegation.

On the obvious side, Moscow claims it is trying to rein in Western tech giants, and strengthen what it calls “sovereignty” over the Internet.

The Russian government’s efforts to control internet and social media use date back to 2012, when the law allowed authorities to blacklist and block certain online content from being communicated to them. via. Since then, more and more restrictions targeting messaging apps, websites, and social networking platforms have been introduced.

A legal provision requires technology companies to host servers in Russia to store personal information they collect from Russian citizens. Russia’s state media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has tried unsuccessfully for years to force big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to transfer Russian users’ data to Russia.

Pressure on major social media platforms has increased this year after Russian authorities criticized them for being used to drag tens of thousands of people into the streets demanding the release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a critic most famous under President Vladimir Putin. The wave of protests across the country posed a major challenge to the Kremlin.

Officials allege that social media platforms have failed to weed out calls for children to participate in protests, and Putin called on police to monitor social media platforms more consistently, and hunt down those who engage children in “illegal and uncontrolled street actions”.

Facebook and Twitter have been fined several times in the last year for not removing content that Russian authorities consider illegal. Roskomnadzor has threatened to ban Twitter and since March this year has slowed down the operating speed of this platform.