A Moscow court has fined Google nearly $100m over its failure to delete content banned by local law.
According to NbcNews, this is a penalty that reflects Russian efforts to heap pressure on big technology companies.
The Tagansky District Court ruled that Google repeatedly neglected to remove the banned content and ordered the company to pay an administrative fine of about 7.2 billion rubles (about $98.4m).
Google has said it will study the court documents before deciding on its next steps.
In recent times, Russian authorities have ramped up pressure on social media platforms, accusing them of failing to purge content relating to drug abuse, weapons and explosives.
Earlier in 2021, the authorities blamed tech companies for not deleting announcements about unsanctioned protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
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In 2021, Russian courts imposed smaller fines on Google, Facebook and Twitter. The Moscow court’s ruling is the first time the size of the fine was calculated based on revenue.
Russian authorities have also demanded that foreign tech giants store the personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, threatening them with fines or possible bans if they do not comply.
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