Russia fines Google, Meta for failing to remove banned content

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A Russian court imposed a nearly $100 million fine on Google and a nearly $30 million fine on Facebook parent company Meta over the companies' failure to remove government-banned content.

The Taganasky District Court imposed a $97,776,000 fine on Google and a $27,150,000 fine on Meta after the country stepped up efforts in the past year to control what content is available online.

The fines were based on percentages of the companies' earnings in Russia over the past year. The Google fine is believed to be the largest penalty of its kind to date.

The companies have 10 days to appeal the court's rulings.

The rulings come after Russia put pressure on Google to remove content associated with opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Russia's Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal ruled earlier this month that Google will face a fine of $13.54 million if it does not reverse a decision to block Russian TV channel Tsargrad's YouTube account. The ruling upheld a lower court's order for the channel to be restored and its monetization rights returned.

YouTube blocked the Tsargrad TV channel July 28, 2020, and Google later explained Tsargrad founder Konstantin Malofeev was put on the U.S. sanctions list over alleged Russian involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.