"Numerous demands were ignored": Russian court imposed turnover fines on Google and Meta for the first time

On Friday, December 24, the Magistrates' Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow considered two cases against IT companies Google and Meta Platforms (successor to Facebook), found them guilty of repeated violations of the procedure for restricting access to illegal content and imposed so-called turnover fines as punishment.

“For the first time, a Russian court has imposed fines that make up a share of the revenue of these companies for the year in Russia, namely: 7.22 billion rubles for Google LLC and 1.99 billion rubles for Facebook Inc,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement.

The corresponding sanctions are provided for by Part 5 of Art.

13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, where it is allowed to impose a fine on legal entities in the amount of 1/20 to 1/10 of the aggregate amount of proceeds received from the sale of all goods (works, services) for the calendar year preceding the year in which it was revealed an administrative offense.

As noted in Roskomnadzor, materials promoting the views of extremist and terrorist organizations, as well as instructions for the manufacture of explosives, were published on the sites of IT giants.

The fined companies ignored numerous demands for publications that incite religious hatred and offend the feelings of believers.

In addition, Google and Meta did not remove content that promoted "indifference to the life and health of minors."

As explained in the department, we are talking about "catching", "roofing" and the commission of deliberate asphyxiation.

“The materials that are given in the protocols are a small part of the array of content that violates Russian law.

At the moment, more than 2 thousand materials on Facebook and Instagram remain unremoved ... More than 2.6 thousand materials remain unremoved from Google, "Roskomnadzor stressed.

The press service of the regulator clarified that the presence of illegal materials with prohibited information by companies, for which the decisions of the Russian court have already entered into force, provides for the re-bringing of Google and Meta to responsibility under Part 5 of Art.

13.41 Administrative Code with the imposition of turnover fines.

After the announcement of the verdict of the court, the press service of Google said that they would study it and determine further actions.

We add that in January 2022 the Tagansky District Court should consider three more cases against this IT company.

Commenting on the court's decision, Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, noted that the imposition of fines does not in any way interfere with the work of companies in Russia, but will have a "preventive effect" for other IT giants.

"The appointment of this fine does not in any way interfere with the further work of Google, although I also remind you that the legislation provides for other forms of response, and the so-called methods of coercion, which include slowing down traffic and complete blocking on the territory of Russia," RIA Novosti quotes Khinshtein.

Also on russian.rt.com Roskomnadzor: Google, Facebook, Twitter have not removed more than 5 thousand prohibited materials

Note that Google and Meta are among 13 foreign companies that are due to open their offices in Russia by January 1, 2022.

This list also includes Apple, Twitter, TikTok, Telegram, Zoom, Viber, Likeme, Spotify, Discord, Pinterest, and Twitch.

As recalled in the RKN, the law "On the activities of foreign persons in the information and telecommunication network" Internet "on the territory of the Russian Federation" was adopted on July 1.

The document implies that foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of over 500 thousand users must open their authorized representative offices in Russia.

In an interview with RT, Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Research and Forecasts, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, noted that all conditions have been created in Russia for companies to work and develop.

All that is required of them is compliance with Russian legislation, the expert noted.

“If we talk about Google, then the position is strange.

Because the company has repeatedly assured that it is interested in the Russian audience and that it will bring its activities into compliance with our legislation.

But this remained just words that did not lead to anything concrete ... We need to force foreign companies to work in our country according to Russian laws, ”he stated.

“The fine imposed on Google is several times higher than those imposed earlier.

But the most interesting thing is that it is still less than those imposed on IT giants in Europe.

In fact, our legislation, as well as the position of our state, is much more liberal and democratic than in Europe, ”said Danyuk.

In this regard, he recalled, for example, a $ 5 billion fine for violating antitrust rules, which the European Commission had previously imposed on the company.

Danyuk is of the opinion that the decision of the Russian court on turnover fines was a completely logical step.

“No digital company can ignore our legislation and neglect the interests of Russian users.

Because they make big profits in our market and are obliged to comply with the law, as well as the rights, including digital rights, of our citizens, ”Danyuk summed up.