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A fine of 21 billion rubles (about 363 million euros) has been imposed by a Moscow court on the American giant Google.
The society is accused of not having blocked false information on the special operation of the Russian army in Ukraine, content deemed to be propaganda of what Moscow describes as extremist or terrorist.
More explicitly, Russia criticizes YouTube for not having deleted “false information about the conduct of the special military operation in Ukraine, discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation”.
This is not the first time that such sanctions have been imposed by the Kremlin against the American technology giant. In December 2021, the country fined Google more than 87 million euros, or 8% of its turnover in Russia, for not having removed content considered illegal by the Russian authorities.
Would Google and YouTube have played a decisive role in the information war against Russia? Note that the American company had restricted its services on the Russian market in protest against the special operation of the Russian army in Ukraine while Vladimir Putin had taken the decision to ban any speech contrary to Russian policy.
According to expert Vladimir Zykov quoted by the Ria-Novosti news agency, the Russian authorities can inflict on Google “as many fines as they want, they will not receive any money” because the American company has stopped its activities in Russia and no longer makes a profit there.
This sanction foreshadows a possible blocking of YouTube in Russia, as Twitter, Instagram and many independent media have been since the attack in Ukraine.
