Photo: Ken Wolter/Dreamstime.com
A court in Moscow has found Alphabet Inc. which owns Google and the YouTube video platform, guilty of disclosing personal data of Russian soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine. This was reported by the Russian state news agency TASS on Monday, 21 April.
According to the court, one of the videos posted on YouTube revealed the losses of the Russian army in Ukraine, including the personal data of the dead soldiers. Other details, such as the name of the channel or the author of the video, were not disclosed.
In recent years, Russia has waged a consistent campaign of pressure on foreign tech companies, demanding that they remove content it deems “fake” or “illegal”. Despite the small size of the fines, the authorities have systematically fined companies including Google, Meta and Twitter, creating an atmosphere of information isolation.
Google has not yet commented on the court’s decision.
Russia traditionally does not disclose the exact number of casualties among its military, and the topic of fallen soldiers is one of the most sensitive issues for Russian society. In December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Google of allegedly using the platform as a political tool against Russia.
Analysts believe that with such court decisions, the Kremlin is trying to intimidate platforms and control narratives, especially regarding the war in Ukraine.
