Russia threatens to fine Google, Wikipedia over dissemination of ‘fake’ information News
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Russia threatens to fine Google, Wikipedia over dissemination of ‘fake’ information

A Russian court has registered administrative cases against Google and Wikipedia and threatened to impose hefty fines, according to Interfax News Agency. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. and Google could be fined for refusing to remove inaccurate information about the special military operation in Ukraine, as well as for encouraging extremism against Russian citizens.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet regulator, earlier filed and sent to the court protocols for Wikimedia Foundation Inc. under Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation on the failure to remove any content banned in Russia. Google had two protocols filed under Parts 2 and 4 of Article 13.41 for an offence described in the code as an internet resource owner’s failure to delete any information or webpages containing calls for extremist activities. The company is facing a fine of up to 12 million rubles.

The hearing will take place on April 21 in Moscow’s Tagansky district’s 422nd magistrate judicial district.

The leading internet service providers Google, Telegram, Facebook, and Twitter have been recurrently held accountable for violating Russian regulations since the beginning of last year. In December 2021, a Russian court ordered Meta to pay two billion rubles and Google to pay more than 7.2 billion rubles in revenue-based fines.

Russia’s communications watchdog also stated on Thursday that Google would face fines over its refusal to eliminate content from video-sharing site YouTube that Moscow considers illegal.

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