Russia orders new fines for Google and Telegram

A Moscow court on Monday ordered fresh fines for US tech giant Google and Russian-founded encrypted messaging service Telegram, accusing the companies of not removing illegal content.

Telegram was fined four million rubles (49,440 euros) and Google two million rubles, the court’s press service said on its Telegram channel.

It did not disclose the exact nature of their offences.

Russia has piled fines on the world’s biggest tech companies in recent months, with authorities accusing them of not moderating their content properly and interfering in the country’s affairs.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and other foreign tech giants have received fines of up to tens of millions of rubles in recent years.

Telegram, was founded by Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who are based outside the country.

During Russia’s parliamentary elections in September, Apple and Google agreed to remove a voting app created by allies of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. AFP