Russia threatens to slow Google over banned content

A Russian court on Tuesday issued a fine to Google and threatened to slow down its traffic for not removing what it referred to as illegal content.

Google received a fine of 6 million rubles ($81,600) for administrative offenses, Reuters reports. This fine comes after Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it gave Google 24 hours to remove videos containing drugs, violence and extremism.

According to Reuters, Russia could place a slowdown of internet traffic in Russia, noting that the country has previously placed a slowdown on Twitter for refusing to take down content. Last month, Twitter was also issued three separate fines totalling 8.9 million roubles ($121,000).

“This censorship of Russian media and the targeted support for illegal protest activity actually speak to the political colouring of Google’s activities in Russia,” Roskomnadzor said, according to Reuters.

Roskomnadzor stated the videos in question encouraged minors to engage in protests in support of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Reuters notes that Navalny and his supporters regularly use YouTube to organize their opposition efforts and to air allegations against senior Russian officials.

Moscow court documents seen by Reuters show that Google is suing Roskomnadzor over its demands to remove content. The lawsuit was filed on April 23 and was accepted on May 11. A hearing has been set for July 14, Reuters reports.