Moscow's Tagansky District Court has issued a series of rulings against technology companies Google, Telegram, and Pinterest for failing to comply with Russian government demands to censor the information space. The total amount of fines imposed exceeded 22 million rubles.
Moscow's Tagansky District Court has issued a series of rulings against technology companies Google, Telegram, and Pinterest for failing to comply with Russian government demands to censor the information space. The total amount of fines imposed exceeded 22 million rubles.
This is reported by Russian media.
Google has been fined 7.6 million rubles ($87,054) for refusing to remove Wheely, a British service for ordering cars with a personal driver, from the Google Play app store in Russia. The specific reasons for the complaints against the service by the Russian authorities are not disclosed.
Telegram — 3.8 million rubles ($43,527). The messenger was punished for failing to remove materials that a Russian court classified as “fakes about a special military operation” and “extremist content.”
Pinterest Europe Limited — 10.8 million rubles ($123,709). The platform was fined for two incidents. 7 million rubles were imposed for failing to remove LGBT content, and another 3.8 million rubles for allegedly having “information about the involvement of minors in dangerous activities.”
The Russian authorities systematically use court fines and threats of blocking as a tool to pressure foreign IT companies, demanding the removal of truthful information about the war in Ukraine and restricting freedom of speech.
