Russia Penalizes Google For Spreading LGBT Propaganda And Fake Information

On Thursday, a Russian court penalized Alphabet’s Google three million roubles ($38,600) for neglecting to delete clips from YouTube. The videos are claimed to have supported “LGBT propaganda” including “false data” regarding Russia’s military war in Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies. 

The company was fined 21.1 billion roubles around $373 million in July 2022 by a Moscow court for a repeated failure to remove content Russia deems illegal, such as “fake news” about the conflict with Ukraine, Russia’s communications regulator said.

Tagansky District Court had penalized Google for consistently failing to limit access to unlawful goods promptly, singling out YouTube in particular. Throughout the past year, Moscow has imposed dozens of fines on Western technology companies to exert more influence over what Russian citizens see online. Russia increased its laws on “the advocacy of LGBT propaganda” last year. 

Moscow has always objected to foreign digital platforms distributing content that violates its rules. Since Moscow gathered its security forces before deploying them to Ukraine in February 2022, the simmering conflict has escalated into a full-fledged battle. 

In addition, the government implemented stringent censorship measures shortly after sending soldiers to Ukraine. According to the new law, which broadens Russia’s definition of “LGBT propaganda” and is being strongly criticized by different human rights organizations, any action or dissemination of any information deemed to be an effort to support homosexuality in society, on the web, or in films, books, or advertising could result in a heavy fine. 

Alphabet’s YouTube has become the primary object of the state’s ire, but it has not been stopped, unlike Twitter (TWTR.N), Facebook, and Instagram, which are all under the Meta. According to the TASS news agency, Russian authorities said Google refused to remove many videos placed on YouTube. 

In particular, one by a blogger designated as a “foreign operator” by Moscow, describes how homosexual couples nurture children and LGBT people live in St. Petersburg. The Russian division of Alphabet’s Google declared bankruptcy the previous year after authorities confiscated its financial assets after a December 2021 penalty worth 7.2 billion roubles, almost $92.6 million, for the company’s “repeated failure” to erase content, according to Russian officials.

Tagansky District Court back in July 2022 said that YouTube had not removed “false information about the details of the special combat operation against Ukraine, harming the Russian Federation’s combat forces.” Google’s Russian firm’s bank account was frozen, forcing the business to declare bankruptcy while making it hard to pay employees and merchants. 

According to Anton Gorelkin, the deputy leader of Russia’s parliamentary committee for information policy, Google is demonstrating a flagrant contempt for Russian legislation. Google, received a comparable 7.2 billion roubles fine in 2021. 

Google relocated the majority of its staff out of Russia in May 2022 thus eliminating the company’s commercial activity in the nation for the foreseeable future. According to the people, the majority of Google’s Russian employees chose to leave the nation to continue working for Google outside of Russia, with many of them landing in Dubai, where Google has a large operation. 

Some employees chose to remain in Russia rather than leave the organization, and Google will soon have very few employees in Russia, according to the sources. Russia has tried to disconnect the internet from the rest of the world, but it appears to be aware of the possible repercussions for citizens if the most common websites are blocked. 

Google, for its part, has spoken out against Russia’s activities, but it also has tactical and moral reasons to stay. The Russian government still exerted pressure on the Silicon Valley corporation, by filing a fresh complaint against it in June 2022, for allegedly failing to store Russian users’ data within the country.

“Consumers in Russia depend on our services to access high-quality information, and we will continue to provide free services like Search, Gmail, Android, Maps, and YouTube,” the representative stated back in 2022. Google took some efforts to withdraw its services in Russia, including prohibiting Russian official media channels from selling ads and clamping down on misinformation about the Ukraine conflict.

Meanwhile, Russia’s digital development minister, Maksut Shadayev, ruled out a blanket ban on YouTube, one of the country’s most popular internet sites last year. “We have no intention to prohibit YouTube. Whenever we block something, we must ensure that no harm is done to our consumers,” he had said as reported by the Russian news service Interfax.

Google saw an obvious strategic benefit in maintaining its services in a country with over 100 million internet consumers — and a sector in which it held a strong position. However, several internet governance experts speculated that Google’s choice to keep services operational in the country was driven by moral duty. “It is critical to keep information flowing to Russian dissidents and people who want details from sources other than state media,” said Daphne Keller, director of Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center’s platform regulation program. 

According to Insider Intelligence, YouTube is used by about three-quarters of Russia’s online people, or more than 77 million individuals. Despite repeated government orders to remove content, YouTube remained one of the only digital ties connecting Russia and the rest of the world, particularly as other worldwide platforms have been restricted. 

Google finds itself as the last business standing in this larger battle between an authoritarian government and a Western technology company that provides Russia’s last remaining spaces for free expression. According to Polyakova, Google is one of the numerous corporations from whom CEPA gets “a minor part” of its financing in the form of gifts.

Russia has stepped up its efforts to isolate its internet from other parts of the world, erecting what some have dubbed an online Iron Curtain. However, its refusal to block Google’s numerous services demonstrates the constraints of Russia’s more limited, native internet. 

Additionally, YouTube is not just famous in Russia, but Russian officials have long used it to disseminate their political communication, with government-run networks like RT and Sputnik garnering millions of followers before being taken down. “Russia utilizes YouTube for spreading propaganda,” according to Wijermars. 

During the ongoing conflict involving Ukraine and Russia, Google October 2022 initiated harsh action against the Russian Federation Assembly (Senate) YouTube accounts and permanently disabled the channel, with no promise of data recovery. The channel has around 20,000 clips with more than two lakh subscribers, according to the Council. 

“The Federation Council’s and the Vmeste-RF TV channel’s Youtube accounts were stopped, and every record was deleted without any possibility of recovery,” the council had claimed on Telegram. Meanwhile, the company focused on search engine technology had explained that the action was made in conformity with the rules governing export restrictions and penalties.

Furthermore, in May, it ended arrangements with Russian ISPs (Internet Service Providers) that allowed their clients to utilize Google Global Cache facilities for faster data loading. According to several sources, the organization stated that enterprises forbidden from utilizing Google cache facilities are placed on the anti-Russian restrictions list, resulting in contract cancellation.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan