Russia Fines Apple and Zoom for Data Storage Violation
Big tech refuses store the data of Russian citizens on Russian territory
© press
Russia fined U.S. tech giant Apple and Zoom Video Communications earlier this week for allegedly refusing to store the data of Russian citizens on Russian territory.
Moscow has clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data, and local representation in a simmering dispute that has erupted into a full-on battle since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Apple was fined 2 million roubles ($34,000), the court in Moscow’s Tagansky district said.
Meanwhile, Zoom and Ookla, which runs the internet performance tool Speedtest, were fined 1 million roubles each.
Alphabet’s Google was ordered to pay 60,000 roubles for a different offense relating to data.
Earlier this year, Moscow clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data, and local representation in a simmering dispute that has erupted into a full-on information battle.
The country fined Google 3 million roubles ($46,540) last year for not storing the personal data of Russian users in databases on Russian territory.
Later Moscow announced it had opened a new case over what it called Google's repeated failure to comply with Russian legislation.
Google, which declined to comment, could be fined between 6-18 million roubles, Roskomnadzor said.
The regulator also said it had opened cases against six other companies - Airbnb, Pinterest, Likeme, Twitch, Apple and United Parcel Service.
The cases were for alleged first-time offenses carrying a potential fine of 1-6 million roubles.
Last year, President Vladimir Putin criticized the growing influence of U.S. social media companies and said their impact on society now puts them in competition with elected governments.
China's Influence over American Elites and Big Tech Exposed
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“Digital giants have been playing an increasingly significant role in wider society,” Putin said via videoconference.
“In certain areas they are competing with states," Putin began.
"Here is the question, how well does this monopolism correlate with the public interest?"
"Where is the distinction between successful global businesses, sought-after services and big data consolidation on the one hand, and the efforts to rule society[…] by substituting legitimate democratic institutions."
"By restricting the natural right for people to decide how to live and what view to express freely on the other hand?”
