MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Google is facing another turnover-based fine for its repeated failure to delete banned content, a source in Moscow’s magistrate court department No. 422, which received the respective protocol, told TASS on Monday.
"The court received a protocol on an administrative offense compiled against Google LLC under part 5 article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (repeated failure of the owner of a website to delete information if the obligation to delete such information is included in the legislation of the Russian Federation). A hearing on the issue is scheduled for July 12," the source said, adding that under the law, the company is facing a fine to the tune of 10% of its annual turnover or higher.
Since the beginning of 2021, the court has systematically fined Google for the constant failure to delete information banned in the country. On March 1, 2022, Moscow’s magistrate court imposed a turnover-based fine on Google in the amount of 7.2 bln rubles ($129 mln) over the company’s refusal to delete a video clip promoting the activities of terrorist units in Chechnya on YouTube that it owns. Then a turnover-fine was imposed on the IT company for systemic failure to delete information for the first time in the history of Russia’s justice system.
According to Google, the turnover of its Russian office exceeded 85 bln rubles ($1.5 bln) in 2020. Under the law, the court set the amount of the fine on its own, relying on the company’s annual turnover. It can equal from 1/20 to 1/10 of the company's annual revenue, and up to 1/5 of revenue in case of a repeated violation.