Russian authorities once again criticized the company on Monday, this time for the removal of illegal content. According to an official Telegram post, the company had failed to remove clips from Russian YouTube that promoted terrorism and anti-Russian propaganda. The charges for these failures are about $364 millionUSD.
YouTube is the last Western platform still standing in Russia after the country cracked down on social media due to the war in Ukraine. Russian officials have made it clear that there are no plans to remove access to the video-streaming platform at this time.
The prevailing theory is that the platform is too sophisticated to be recreated in Russia. The popular Russian social network VK and the somewhat questionable messaging app Telegram replaced Facebook and Twitter.
Russian authorities might not be willing to give the boot, but they haven't made things easy for the tech giant. The company's bank accounts were seized by the Russians after it failed to pay a fine for alleged anti-Russian content.
The Russian government's fines have made it necessary for the Russian wing of the company to file for Chapter 11.
The same anti-war content that got it into this expensive mess in the first place was still promoted by the platform even after it filed for bankruptcy. In addition to the misinformation about the ongoing battle with Ukraine, the announcement claims that YouTube was also hosting appeals to participate in unauthorized mass actions. The company is hosting content that promotes an indifferent attitude to the life and health of minor children.
When we hear back, we will post here about the latest fines.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
