Moscow Court Penalizes Google for Disclosure of Russian Soldiers' Data

(MENAFN) A judicial body in Moscow has ruled against Google, deeming the company responsible for making public the private details of Russian military personnel who perished during the conflict in Ukraine, as stated by an official news outlet on Monday.

The verdict was based on findings by Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, which concluded that certain content published on YouTube contained restricted data that identified the fallen soldiers.

This type of information is deemed illegal to distribute under Russian legislation.

Due to this infraction, the court has levied a penalty of 3.8 million rubles (around USD46,240) on the tech company. The court highlighted the material as a breach of national law, which forbids the circulation of such sensitive content.

This is not the first instance of legal action taken by the same judicial authority against Google. The company has previously incurred fines for various alleged offenses, including broadcasting a YouTube video that provided "instructions for how Russian troops could surrender" and for placing restrictions on Russian state-affiliated media on its platform.

As reported by regional news outlets, Google's accrued penalties in Russia for administrative violations have now hit an astronomical figure of 2 undecillion rubles (or USD2.4 decillion), a number with 36 digits. The sum continues to rise due to delays in settlement.

This astonishing amount has now exceeded the combined Gross Domestic Product of all countries worldwide, which was estimated to be approximately USD106 trillion in 2023, Based on the World Bank.

MENAFN21042025000045017167ID1109453287