Google, Apple Ignore Requirements Of Russian Legislation, It's Unacceptable - Zakharova

Google, Apple Ignore Requirements of Russian Legislation, It's Unacceptable - Zakharova

US tech companies Google and Apple ignore the requirements of Russian legislation regarding the blocking of illegal content on the eve of the elections, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2021) US tech companies Google and Apple ignore the requirements of Russian legislation regarding the blocking of illegal content on the eve of the elections, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Recently, the practice of ignoring a number of the largest IT companies, mainly located in US jurisdictions, the legal requirements of the authorities of the Russian Federation on blocking and removing illegal content has become systemic. In fact, the directives already sent to the headquarters of Google and Apple regarding the termination of access to recognized extremist resources and their online applications were ignored. We believe that such an arrogant, selective behavior, as well as a demonstrative disregard for multiple appeals of authorized Russian structures regarding content recognized as extremist, is acquiring a truly unacceptable character in light of the current electoral processes," Zakharova said.

She stressed that against the background of the "frivolous," "indifferent" attitude to the norms of Russian legislation, these companies demonstrate much greater "law-abidingness and readiness for dialogue with the authorities" in the host states of their headquarters and in the Western countries in general.

"Of course, as you understand, we cannot be satisfied with the situation when the internet giants themselves choose, without reference to the legislation of the country in whose jurisdiction they operate, what requests they should respond to, what resources they should leave, what resources they should remove, and all the more, political segregation is inadmissible here," Zakharova added.

Russia calls on Google to be more attentive to regulatory requirements, she said.

"If there is a need to clarify some nuances or details, perhaps something remained incomprehensible, behind the scenes, we will be happy to answer questions, we are open to dialogue," Zakharova added.