Technology and social network giants, Google, Meta, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and Telegram have cleared the fines imposed by Russia’s database.
The debts were imposed by Russian courts through the state bailiffs’ database and the companies were formerly registered as debtors.
However, a Wednesday report by Reuters says they have been deregistered with social media giants X (formerly Twitter) and Twitch left to pay their fines.
According to the Russian database, X owes 51 roubles ($560,730), while Twitch owes 23 million roubles ($252,879).
Requests for comment from Google, Meta, TikTok, and Telegram were not immediately answered. Bailiffs from the state could not be reached right away.
Russia and foreign technology companies have been at loggerheads over what the country considers to be illegal content and the latter’s failure to keep user data locally.
These simmering issues grew more intense following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
After the invasion, Twitter as well as Facebook and Instagram from Meta Platforms were blocked by the Russian database, as it took particular interest in YouTube, owned by Google.
Google was fined 4.6 billion roubles ($50.4 million) by the Russian court at the end of 2023, based on the company’s yearly revenue in the country.
