Russia's Telecom Watchdog Says Google Has Not Paid $11,000 Fine for Violating Internet Law

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) - Google has still not paid the $11,000 fine that Roskomnadzor, Russia's state telecom watchdog, slapped the US company with in July, the agency's head, Alexander Zharov, said.

"[Google] has until September 30 to pay the fine. I believe that the company, like any other, will wait until the last moment to pay the fine", Zharov told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

Zharov added that Google still has not changed its search filtering parameters over which it was initially fined.

In July, the watchdog fined Google 700,000 rubles ($11,000) for failing to filter its traffic in accordance to strict Russian Internet laws, which require certain content to be censored.

A photo of the Google logo at their offices in Granary Sqaure, London, Thursday Nov. 1, 2018.

© AP Photo / Alastair Grant

Russia introduced a law in July 2018 that requires online search engines to conceal any hyperlinks to materials that are banned in Russia. Google has refused to connect to the federal information system where the banned websites are listed.

The fifth edition of the EEF is set to take place in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok from 4-6 September. The Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is an official media partner of the forum.