Russia fines Google $374 million for letting the truth about Ukraine be told
- Reference: 1658218511
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/07/19/russia_fines_google/
- Source link:
The Tagansky District Court of Moscow took exception to YouTube content it claimed contained "fakes about the course of a special military operation in Ukraine" and discredited Russia's armed forces. The court also claimed some material promoted extremism and/or terrorism. Google also stands convicted an "indifferent attitude to the life and health of minors" that the court feels are worthy of protest by Russian citizens.
The court also alleged Google systemically violated Russian law.
[1]
As punishment, Google users will receive warnings of the company's alleged misdeeds, and won't be permitted to buy ads tied to Google Search results or on YouTube.
[2]Google Russia goes broke after bank account snatched
[3]Russian Debian-derivative Linux slinger plans IPO
[4]Dmitry Rogozin sacked as boss of Russian space agency Roscosmos
[5]Albanian government websites go dark after cyberattack
Roskomnadzor [6]said the amount of the fine was "calculated on the basis of the company's annual Russian turnover."
Google has regularly received fines from Russia, including one for $1.2 million for similar offenses last month. In April Google was fined $138,000 for alleged Ukraine-related propaganda.
[7]
[8]
The Tagansky Court regularly issues fines to big tech firms for offenses like [9]improper data storage .
However, most of those fines are vastly smaller than the $374 million levied on this occasion.
[10]
Speaking to government officials via video conference on Monday, Putin [11]reportedly said Russia would have to develop its own domestic technology and tech firms as the country would not be reversing course on progress.
"Not just restrictions but the almost-complete closure of access to foreign high-tech products is being deliberately, intentionally used against our country," said Putin.
As for Google, it has mostly left Russia except for free services like Google search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Android and Play. It wound down operations and paused all ads back in March this year. The company was forced to file for [12]bankruptcy after authorities seized its bank account in May and it could no longer pay its bills and staff.
[13]
Just how Moscow plans to extract $374 million from the company is unclear.
Theoretically, Google can appeal the court's verdict and fine. The Register has asked the company to comment on the matter.
While we wait for that response, we'll bask in the irony of this being a very rare occasion on which Google evading a government demand for money feels about right. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YtaAwIqjZtwX5qp14HYa5AAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/19/google_russia_bankruptcy/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/09/russian_debianderivative_vendor_plans_ipo/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/15/roscosmos_rogozin_dismissed/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/albania_down/
[6] https://rkn.gov.ru/news/rsoc/news74400.htm
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YtaAwIqjZtwX5qp14HYa5AAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YtaAwIqjZtwX5qp14HYa5AAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/13/russia_fines_apple_and_zoom/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YtaAwIqjZtwX5qp14HYa5AAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-russia-putin/update-1-putin-west-cannot-isolate-russia-and-send-it-back-in-time-idINL1N2YZ0QG
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/19/google_russia_bankruptcy/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YtaAwIqjZtwX5qp14HYa5AAAAMM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
" Putin declares he'll make his own Googles now, thanks "
Already there. They have Yandex and DuckDuckGo.
Yandex
Yandex, yes. But I believe DuckDuckGo is American.
Re: Yandex
DDG has (or at least had until very recently) a strong relationship with Yandex.
They can say they've paused it, but you don't turn off deep integration like that overnight.
Gosh, really ?
" Not just restrictions but the almost-complete closure of access to foreign high-tech products is being deliberately, intentionally used against our country "
I wonder why.
Might it have something to do with the fact that you entertain Soviet-era fantasy about how your country is managed and what is going on in it ?
Maybe if you stopped murdering journalists who are just doing their job and face reality, things might start going for the better ?
Re: Gosh, really ?
"murdering journalists who are just doing their job and face reality"
The most dangerous places to be journalists are allies of the west.
A US citizen was recently murdered using "several well aimed single shots" while clearly marked in press gear.
A Australian Citizen was to be murdered in London, and is now to be supplied to the same people who intended to murder him.
If you live in Russia, why are you supposed to be okay with a bunch of nutters massacring people on your border? [LPR / DPR ] vs West Ukraine(Kiev) has been running for eight years now, and it's gone too far to not pick a side.
Russia has picked [ LPR / DPR ] the Americans have picked Kiev, and approximate 1/3rd of the world is standing back with lips curled in disgust at the highly propagandised reporting or omissions.
Re: Gosh, really ?
Interesting set of comments - references and/or full citations please?
Re: Gosh, really ?
"The most dangerous places to be journalists are allies of the west."
That isn't even close to being true. If you hold a dissenting view from the Kremlin, Russia is a dangerous place to be a regular citizen, let alone a journalist.
In most western allied countries, violence against journalists makes the news. In Russia it's just Tuesday.
Re: Gosh, really ?
"LPR" and "DPR" have always been Russian-supported pseudo-states, created as part of Putin's stated aim of preventing democracy in Ukraine.
Re: Gosh, really ?
Russia = LPR/DPR. The world knows that those militias are Russian invaders.
You are the Nazi invaders.
You are the ones killing civilians, women, children, and others in Donetsck and Donbas. It's your scorched earth policy, your invasion, your military.
Re: Gosh, really ?
"Russia would have to develop its own domestic technology and tech firms as the country would not be reversing course on progress."
For a given value of "progress" of course.
This is straight out of the North Korean play-book and look how well North Korea are doing.
Presumably
If google pays the fine, they'd be in breach of the current embargoes?
unusual for Google
Normally Google roll over and comply with unreasonable authoritarian governments - e.g. removing mentions of Tiananmen Square from Chinese search results, or suppressing videos highlighting Hunter Biden's laptop.
Nice to see them refusing to give in for once, although perhaps this merely reflects their continued support for US Government policy.
Re: unusual for Google
Normally they would, but Russia has already seized the bank accounts of google.ru and forced them into bankruptcy. There's no-one left on staff to perform bespoke censorship on behalf of the Russian government. This looks more like an ironic consequence than a genuine pushback against authoritarianism.
The court also claimed some material promoted extremism and/or terrorism
If you replace the word promoted with showed it's probably not far off.
In which case Russia should be suing themselves for their own deplorable acts against totally innocent people.
"Theoretically, Google can appeal the court's verdict and fine"
But anyone representing Google in court would find themselves arrested and/or disappeared.
In Soviet Russia, you do not appeal to the court, the court repeals your life.
If....
Google is essentially bankrupt in Russia, how can it pay this fine?
Rhetorical question, I know, but.....
If things get really bad, Google could turn off Play Store, or, more disruptively, Google Cloud Messaging....
Re: If....
Everyone in Russia, including the politicians, uses Telegram for messaging because, oh the irony, it's been shown to be impossible to block or sanction.
google's response
Pthhhbbbttt!