Russia Fines Google, Telegram, and Microsoft for Prohibited Content
Russia's Taganskiy District Court has fined Google, Telegram, and Microsoft a total of 11.1 million rubles ($130,000) for failing to remove prohibited content from their platforms.
The court ruled on the lawsuits filed against the companies, concluding that they had not complied with Russian law by not removing the content.
Telegram and Google were ordered to pay fines of 3.8 million rubles each, while Microsoft was fined 3.5 million rubles. This is not the first time these companies have been fined in Russia - previous fines have exceeded 29 billion rubles for Google, with outstanding debt over 20 billion rubles.
The Russian government has imposed restrictions on Telegram's operations and has issued multiple fines to several foreign internet platforms, including Apple and TikTok. The total fines imposed on Telegram by Moscow courts in the first six months of this year alone exceeded 100 million rubles.