Russian anti-monopoly regulator hits Google with $34.9 mln fine for censorship - TASS

The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service has slapped Google with a 2-bln ruble ($34.9 mln) fine for biased, non-transparent rules for blocking accounts and content on YouTube, the regulator said on Tuesday.

"As a result of the completed administrative probe, Russia’s FAS has imposed a turnover-based fine on Google LLC totaling over 2 billion rubles ($34,886,073.22) for breaching antitrust laws. The company must pay it within two months from the date when the document that levies the fine goes into legal effect," the watchdog specified.

In February 2022, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service found Google to have transgressed Russia’s antitrust laws. A case was opened against Google LLC due to YouTube’s dominant position on the services market. It was initiated by a statement of the Regional Public Center of Internet Technologies, which had filed a complaint against Google’s actions of sudden blocking and deletion of accounts and user content on YouTube.