Google agrees to censor Government-banned websites from its searches in Russia

  • Google came under pressure in Russia after it repeatedly breached laws introduced in 2017, according to a local newspaper 
  • California-based Google were fined $7,500 by the Russia government for refusing to comply with the law
  • Google has reportedly already deleted 70% of the Russia's blacklisted sites from its searches
  • The company has said it remains committed to providing an accessible service to Russian users 

By Luke Kenton For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: | Updated:

Google has reportedly agreed to start censoring searches in Russia after years of refusing to cooperate with Moscow, it is claimed.

The California-based tech company will now comply with Russian law passed in 2017, that requires any websites banned by the government to be omitted from search engine results.

Google will be working in close proximity with Russian regulatory agency Roskomnadzor (ROSCO), who currently work to block sites including child pornography, drugs and suicide.

However, according to the Moscow Times, ROSCO is widely criticized for being mouthpiece for the government for its perceived favoring of state censorship.

Google has agreed to censor its searches in Russia, according to a local newspaper

Google has agreed to censor its searches in Russia, according to a local newspaper

The supposed independent body has previously been found to have blocked access to corruption investigations against government ministers. 

Google was fined $7,500 by Russia in 2018 for not complying with regulation laws.

But the search-engine extraordinaire insist it won't surrendering to the Russian government's electronic-blacklist, and they will continue to review removal requests on a case-by-case basis - as is their policy across the world. 

According to local paper Vedomosti, Google has already began deleting 70 percent of the sites blacklisted by the Russian government.

It's said 175 requests have been made by Russian officials to delete specific sites, in a Google Transparency report from last-year.

Russia also accounted for 75% of all global requests to delete content, according to the report.

Alexander Zharov, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) apparently told a news agency they've established 'constructive dialogue' with Google

Alexander Zharov, the head of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) apparently told a news agency they've established 'constructive dialogue' with Google

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted head of Roskomnadzor, Alexander Zharov, as saying it has established a "constructive dialogue" with Google.

'We're committed to enabling access to information for the benefit of our users in Russia and around the world,' Nu Wexler, a google spokesperson said in a statement.

No comment was made directly about the alleged deal reported by Vedomosti.

Facebook and Twitter are said to be next in the Russia firing line, after their repeated breach of data and online access laws.

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