Over the last year Moscow has levied dozens of fines against
Western tech companies as part of a drive to ramp up control over what Russian
internet users see online.
As well as passing strict censorship laws shortly after it
dispatched troops into Ukraine, Russia also last year strengthened its laws
against what it calls the "promotion of LGBT propaganda".
Under the new law, which widens Russia's interpretation of
what qualifies as "LGBT propaganda" and has been heavily criticised
by independent human rights groups, any action or the spreading of any
information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public,
online, or in films, books or advertising, could incur a heavy fine.
Russian prosecutors said Google had refused to remove several
videos posted on YouTube, including one from a blogger deemed a "foreign
agent" by Moscow about how same-sex couples raise children and about the
LGBT community in St. Petersburg, the TASS news agency reported.
The Russian subsidiary of Alphabet's Google filed for
bankruptcy last year after authorities seized its bank accounts following a
December 2021 fine of RUB 7.2 billion roubles over what Russian authorities
said was the company's "repeated failure" to delete content. © Reuters
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