A Moscow court fined Google nearly $100 million Friday over the company’s alleged failure to remove content banned by the government, the largest penalty of its kind yet issued as Russia continues to apply pressure on big technology firms.
According to multiple news reports, the Taganasky District Court imposed the fine based on Google’s annual turnover in the country, which Russian officials estimated to be roughly $1.15 billion in 2020.
The Hill has reached out to Google for comment on the fine. The company has a 10-day window to appeal the penalty.
Russia has escalated its efforts over the last year to control what content is allowed on the internet within the country.
In the case of Google in particular, the country has pressed the company to remove content associated with opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Google had already been fined roughly half a million dollars in Russia over failure to remove specific content.
Twitter and Meta, the new parent company of Facebook, have received small fines over posts as well.