Google Slapped with 33 Million Euros Fine in Russia

The Russian competition watchdog fined Google 2 billion rubles (33 million euros) on Tuesday and accused the tech giant of violating competition laws with its YouTube video platform.

According to a Reuters report, Google really has no reprieve in Russia. The American giant has just been fined about 33 million euros, or 2 billion rublesfor allegedly having abused its position in hosting videos on its YouTube platform.

Indeed, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) alleges that the Alphabet company has “abused its dominant position in the YouTube video hosting services market,” according to local media. Google said it will review the official court decision to see if it wants to appeal, but the company will have to pay the fine within two months.

Russia continues to fine Google

Russia has imposed numerous fines on Google’s Russian subsidiary in recent months. A court last week ordered her to pay 21.1 billion rubles (368 million euros) for repeatedly refusing, according to prosecutors, to remove content considered illegal by Russia, such as “fake news” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia had already asked for their withdrawal last March.

In April, another $170,000 fine was imposed on the company for: allegedly spread false information about Russian troop losses in Ukraine. For the time being, it is not really known whether Google will pay all these fines. As a reminder, Google was forced to file for bankruptcy in Russia several months ago after Russian authorities seized its bank account and made it virtually impossible for the company to continue its operations in the country.

Many major US technology companies are blocked by the Russian government in the country or have decided to limit their services in response to the invasion of Ukraine. We therefore envision that Google will not simply pay its fines without its army of lawyers discovering flaws in Russian court decisions.

Source : Reuters