Russia fines Google $370 million for refusing to remove prohibited content

The fine comes after the Russian branch of the tech giant initiated bankruptcy proceedings in connection with the non-fulfillment of financial obligations in March.

A Russian court issued a major turnover fine for Google, reaching 21 billion rubles (more than $370 million) for repeatedly refusing to remove content which is banned in the country. The fine amounts to 10% of Google's revenue in Russia.

The court ruled that "Google LLC [is] guilty of an administrative offense" and imposed "a fine of 21,770,392,317 rubles," a judge announced.

The content in question was published on YouTube and contained extremist materials, propaganda from banned terror groups, instructions for creating explosive devices and fake information regarding the special operation in Ukraine. According to Russian information watchdog Roskomnadzor, at least 7,000 illegal posts are yet to be removed.

Moscow had previously fined the company 7.2 billion rubles ($113.3 million). However, Google failed to comply with the requirement.
Alphabet, Inc., which owns Google and YouTube, had several conflicts with Russian authorities over the past months after it deleted and restricted multiple channels on the video platform and banned state-funded Russian media organizations from running ads or getting any profits.