The Tagansky District Court of Moscow has issued administrative liability rulings against two major American technology companies, Google and Apple. Both organizations were found guilty of failing to remove information whose access is restricted by Russian legislation, and fines were imposed upon them. RIA Novosti and TASS correspondents reported this from the courtroom.
Court Decision on Google and Apple
The judge found Google LLC guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation—failure by the owner of an information resource to remove information or an internet page. The punishment was set as a fine of 3.8 million rubles. Apple was held liable on similar grounds: the company was also found guilty under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, and a fine of 3.5 million rubles was imposed.
Closed Hearing and Companies' Position
According to a TASS correspondent, representatives of both companies were present at the session. At their request, the hearing was held behind closed doors, with participants citing the need to prevent the disclosure of information regarding the service's operation and user data. Meanwhile, company representatives declined to comment on the outcomes of the rulings.
Accumulated Penalties of the Russian Subsidiary
Holding Google and Apple administratively liable for non-compliance with Russian legislation is not an isolated incident. According to Valery Talyarovsky, the bankruptcy trustee of Google LLC, the Russian subsidiary has already paid 16.8 billion rubles in fines in the interests of American Google. This indicates the systemic nature of the penalties the company has incurred over a prolonged period.
Other Companies in the Court's Sight
On the same day, the court reviewed protocols concerning violations of Russian legislation by Telegram, Wikimedia, and American artificial intelligence developer Character. All three organizations were accused of failing to remove content prohibited in the Russian Federation under Part 2 of Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code. For this offense, the legislation provides for a fine ranging from 800,000 to 4 million rubles.
Context: Practice of Repeated Fines
Recent months' judicial practice demonstrates a steady trend toward repeatedly holding technology platforms accountable for the same type of offense. According to public reports, Google has been repeatedly fined for failing to remove prohibited information, including penalties under two protocols totaling 7.6 million rubles. Similar measures were applied to Telegram, emphasizing the consistency of law enforcement in the area of content access restriction.
