Russia threatens to slow down Google services in 24 hours over banned content

Ben Schoon | May 25 2021 - 7:06 am PT

Reuters reports that Google is facing trouble in Russia this week, as the country has threatened a slowdown of the company’s services unless it deletes content that’s been banned by the government.

The Russian government has given Google a 24-hour deadline to prevent the slowdown. Roskomnadzor, a Russian watchdog, says it has sent “more than 26,000 calls to Google” over the content in question. That apparently includes videos that contain illegal information around subjects such as drugs, violence, and what the government considers “extremist organizations.” Google is also being accused of censoring Russian media outlets such as RT and Sputnik on YouTube.

Google has yet to publicly comment on the situation in Russia, but the company could face fines of “between 800,000 roubles and 4 million roubles” if it doesn’t restrict access to the information. That equates to mere tens of thousands in US dollars, barely a dent in the company’s bottom line, but a “repeat offense” could result in fines of up to 10% of Google’s yearly revenue.

Twitter, notably, is facing the same slowdown in the country, a lesser impact versus the complete ban that was at one point on the table.