Russia fines Google, Facebook for failing to delete banned content

A Russian court said on Tuesday it has fined US technology giants Google and Facebook over a failure to delete content that Moscow deems illegal, the latest development in an escalating standoff between Russia and Big Tech.

Russia has already placed a punitive slowdown on US social network Twitter for not deleting banned content, part of a push by Moscow to rein in Western tech companies and beef up what it calls its internet “sovereignty”.

Facebook was fined 26 million roubles ($353,890) in total, on eight separate counts, while Google was ordered to pay a total of 6 million roubles for three different offences, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court said.