Russia slaps Google with $78M fine for ignoring previous penalties

Google's Legal Issues in Russia - Google was fined $78 million by a Russian court for failing to comply with previous penalties [6][7] - The fine is significantly higher than the usual $39,000 penalty for rule-breaking companies [6] - This is not the first time Russia has imposed an unusually large fine on Google, with a previous symbolic fine of $20 decillion in October [2] YouTube's Challenges in Russia - YouTube has drawn Russian disapproval for hosting content deemed illicit by the country [1][8] - The platform used to attract around 50 million daily users in Russia, but that number has dropped to approximately 12 million [1] - Russia has accused YouTube of blocking content from at least 17 Russian television channels, a practice that increased after Russia's invasion of Ukraine [3] Technical and Operational Issues - Russia has been accused of tampering with YouTube's download speeds to prevent Russians from using the platform and viewing illegal content [4] - Google has denied that the technical issues are due to their equipment, while Russia has blamed the problems on Google [4]