Roskomnadzor, Russia's official internet regulatory agency, announced in a Telegram post on Tuesday that it will fine Google for allegedly circulating "false content" about the country's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
"YouTube video hosting, owned by the American IT company Google LLC, has become one of the key platforms participating in the information war against Russia," the agency asserted.
"The American platform frankly promotes the dissemination of false content containing unreliable socially significant information about the course of a special military operation in Ukraine that discredits the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as extremist information calling for violent actions against Russian military personnel, materials of extremist organizations, such as 'Right Sector,' the nationalist regiment 'Azov' and others."
The fines Roskomnadzor is pursuing fall under a 2020 law that has already been used to fine Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Telegram and Google a total of $120 million, according to The Washington Post.
Several news outlets earlier this month announced they would halt operations in Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation that could sentence people to up to 15 years in prison if they are found to be circulating "fake news" about the Russian military.
"The amount of the fine can be up to 8 million rubles [$88,889], and in the event of a repeated administrative offense, the amount of the fine can be increased to 20% of the company's annual revenue," Roskomnadzor said.
The decision comes after several news outlets announced earlier this month that they would be halting operations in Russia indefinitely after the signing of a new law that imprisons people if they are found to have circulated "fake news" about Russia's armed forces, The Hill reported.
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