MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/. Moscow’s Tagansky District Court has fined Google 3,800,000 rubles ($41,560) for publishing an instructional video on YouTube telling Russian troops how they could surrender in the special military operation zone, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
"The Tagansky District Court of Moscow decided to find Google LLC guilty of an offense under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the procedure for restricting access to information, access to which is subject to restriction in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation) and impose a penalty on this entity in the form of an administrative fine in the amount of 3,800,000 rubles," the court’s ruling said.
As stated in the case files, the fine is in connection to a number of YouTube videos posted online, including one giving instructions to Russian troops on how to surrender in Ukraine. These videos were found by the Russian media watchdog during Internet monitoring. Google did not respond to demands to remove the videos, and as a consequence a protocol on an administrative offense was drawn up.
During the court hearing, Google's lawyer Pavel Bagryantsev demanded that the case be dismissed, since, in his opinion, the protocol and other case materials were drawn up with numerous violations.
"In addition, the links specified in the case currently do not contain any prohibited information," he said. However, the court found his arguments unconvincing.
The Tagansky District Court has previously fined Google multiple times for administrative violations. Past penalties have been issued over YouTube videos promoting non-traditional sexual relationships and content deemed to discredit the Russian military. As reported, Google's fines in the Russian Federation are now at two undecillion rubles (a 36-digit figure) and this number is increasing every day due to late payments. The company’s return to the Russian market would only be possible if it complies with the court rulings.