
A Moscow Court recently fined Google the equivalent of ~USD$98m for failing to delete “content deemed illegal”.
Marking a first of its kind, this case shows a tech giant being hit with a large fine due to a failure to moderate content to a government’s demands. In Russia’s case, these demands focused primarily on the blocking of websites linked to external political parties, such as the one created by the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is seen as an extremist by the Russian Government.
This is a landmark event in the tech industry, and likely indicates the acceleration of lockdown attempts on the internet by countries looking to spread propaganda and break down dissenting views.
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