Russian Database Erases Debt of Google, Meta, and TikTok
LONDON: Fines imposed by Russian courts on Alphabet’s Google and YouTube, Metal, TikTok and Telegram appear to have been settled as the companies are no longer registered as debtors in the government bailiffs’ database.
But a database accessed by Reuters on Wednesday still lists X (formerly Twitter) and Twitch with fines totaling 51 million rubles ($560,730) and 23 million rubles ($252,879) respectively.
Google, Meta, TikTok and Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment. State bailiffs could not immediately be reached.
Russia has been at odds with foreign tech companies over content it deems illegal and a failure to store user data locally in deepening disputes that escalated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Following the attack, Twitter and Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram were blocked, and Google-owned YouTube became a particular target of the Russian state’s wrath.
In late 2023, a Russian court fined Google 4.6 billion rubles ($50.4 million), calculated as a percentage of its annual turnover in Russia. Labeled as “extremist” in 2022, Meta has also been fined in proportion to its Russian income.
