Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said Google and Meta were specifically accused of violating the ban on distributing content that promotes extremist ideology, insults religious beliefs and encourages dangerous behaviour by minors, among other things.
The agency said that Facebook and Instagram have failed to remove 2,000 items despite the courts' requests to do so, while Google has failed to delete 2,600 such items.Russian authorities have steadily ramped up pressure on social media platforms, accusing them of failing to purge content related to drug abuse, weapons and explosives and extremist views.
Alexander Khinshtein, head of the committee on information policies in the lower house of Russian parliament, said the massive fine should send a clear message to all IT giants. He added that Russian law envisages other forms of punishment for failure to comply with court orders, including slowing down traffic and complete blocking.
There goes the petty cash tin
The government charge brings their nation losing free services.
A case of charging fine at EU will make American IT companies owing a big burden around the world.
This headline should read 'Russia fines Google and Facebook for not censoring content that isn't church approved'