A court in Moscow rejected an appeal on April 10 by Google's Alphabet to remove an almost $50 million fine imposed on the company for its failure to delete information that Russia deems to be discrediting its armed forces and promoting extremist content.
Russia's crackdown on freedom of speech has intensified since 2022, with particular attention being directed to information that contradicts its narratives about the full-scale war.
According to Reuters, Google did not immediately comment on the rejection of the appeal.
Google's legal problems with Russia preceded the full-scale war. The company was fined 7.2 billion rubles ($78.2 million) in December 2021 for failing to take down content that Russia has banned.
Google was again fined 21.1 billion rubles ($227 million) in August 2022 and 3 million rubles ($32,000) in May 2023 for similar content related offenses. Previous appeals by Google were rejected by Russian courts.
Beyond censoring information about the full-scale war, Russia has sought to control other content it deems to be "extremist."
Russia's Supreme Court declared "the international LGBT social movement" to be "an extremist organization" in November 2023 and banned its activities.
Russians have since faced penalties, including fines and jail time, for sharing information relating to LGBTQ people.
Nate Ostiller
