This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A court in Moscow has fined Google 3 million rubles ($40,750) for the U.S. technology giant’s refusal to localize the personal data of its users in Russia.
Moscow has been seeking to force foreign firms to open offices in Russia and store Russians’ personal data on its territory.
The magistrate court of Moscow’s Taganka district pronounced its ruling on July 29.
Last week, the same court fined Google, Twitter, and Telegram for failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal.
Moscow claims it is trying to rein in Western tech giants and bolster what it calls its Internet “sovereignty.”
But many critics say authorities are trying to quell dissent with parliamentary elections looming in September and the ruling United Russia party’s popularity slumping.
In June, the court fined Facebook 17 million rubles and Telegram 10 million rubles for what it called “administrative offenses” after the two failed to remove content deemed as being banned by Russia.
Twitter and Google have also been fined previously for similar offenses.
