Google acts on Russia’s warning against violating election laws

The Google company has acted on the Russian authorities’ warning against violating election laws, Head of the Department for Monitoring of Respect for Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms at the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office Larisa Kopteva said at a meeting at the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament).

"The prosecution issued a warning beforehand and here is the result," she said, adding that the warning did not require a written response.

Warning ahead of election
News started floating on the Internet ahead of the September 9 elections that unauthorized protests against the pension reform were going to take place on the election day. In this regard, Russia’s Central Election Commission sent a letter to Google, reminding that spreading calls for election-day protests on the day prior to elections was an offence. The Russian media watchdog also demanded that Google prevent the use of its services, including the YouTube video-sharing website, for calls for violating Russian election laws. The watchdog’s deputy chief Vadim Subbotin said that "if they fail to show an appropriate response, it will amount to direct interference in Russia’s domestic affairs."

Andrei Klimov, the Head of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Temporary Commission for Protection of State Sovereignty and Prevention of Interference in Russia's Internal Affairs, said that Russia demanded foreign nationals and entities, including Google, abide by the country’s election laws, saying that adequate measures would be taken in case of violations.

The prosecutor’s office of Moscow’s Central Administrative District also sent a letter to the Google company, warning it against violating Russian election laws.

On the 2018 Unified Election Day, gubernatorial elections were held in 22 Russian regions, while the governors of four regions were elected by regional lawmakers. Regional parliamentary elections took place in 16 regions and additional State Duma elections were held in six single-mandate constituencies. Numerous municipal elections also took place.