<p><strong>LONDON:</strong> According to the fact that Alphabet’s Google, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and Telegram are no longer listed as debtors in the state bailiffs’ database, the fines levied by Russian courts against these businesses seem to have been paid.</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-337289″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7-750×563.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com russian database removes debt for google meta and tiktok meta ai team 2023 11 23f7″ width=”1361″ height=”1021″ title=”Russian Database Removes Debt for Google, Meta, and TikTok 12″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7-750×563.jpg 750w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7-1024×768.jpg 1024w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7-768×576.jpg 768w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7-150×113.jpg 150w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/theindiaprint.com-russian-database-removes-debt-for-google-meta-and-tiktok-meta-ai-team-2023-11-23f7.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1361px) 100vw, 1361px” /></p>
<p>However, X (previously Twitter) and Twitch are still included in the database, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The penalties for these two platforms are 51 million roubles ($560,730) and 23 million roubles ($252,879), respectively.</p>
<p>Requests for comment from Google, Meta, TikTok, and Telegram were not immediately answered. Bailiffs from the state could not be contacted right away.</p>
<p>Russia and international technology firms have been at odds over what Russia considers to be illegal material and the latter’s reluctance to locally keep user data. These simmering issues became more intense after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</p>
<p>After the invasion, the Russian authorities took a special interest in YouTube, owned by Google, and restricted Twitter as well as Facebook and Instagram from Meta Platforms.</p>
<p>A Russian court fined Google 4.6 billion roubles ($50.4 million) at the end of 2023, based on the company’s yearly revenue in Russia. Meta, designated as “extremist” in 2022, has also paid penalties equal to a part of its earnings from Russia.</p>
