MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2018) The Russian parliament's upper house commission on state sovereignty protection does not yet have evidence that US tech giant Google violated Russian law pertaining to the country's electoral process, but this issue will be discussed at length by relevant agencies on September 13, the commission's head, Andrei Klimov, told Sputnik on Monday.
Last week, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) and media watchdog Roskomnadzor warned Google that running ads containing appeals by opposition for citizens to take part in protests on September 9, the day of the country's regional and municipal elections, on its video sharing platform, YouTube, could have been illegal. Klimov also made a statement on behalf of the commission that retaliatory measures would be discussed in the event the company's actions violated laws which ban campaigning in the 24 hour period before an election and on the day of the vote. It was later reported that Google had blocked a number of videos calling for rallies on election day.
"We are following the situation, and so far I do not see that Google violated the requirements stipulated by Russian law. I am getting the impression that they behave like a civilized company," the senator said.
There could be some violations made by Google that have not yet been noticed, but the company showed that it followed the recommendations issued by Russian authorities, Klimov said.
"Since there was a substantive dialogue between Russian watchdogs and the company, there are no significant deviations in Google's performance from our recommendations. ... We need to look more closely at the possible risks in the so-called 'gray zone,'" he explained.
The lawmaker explained that he had just started receiving advisory information on the matter from ministries and departments, and that this issue would be discussed in greater detail with experts on September 13.
The commission on state sovereignty protection was introduced by the upper house in 2017 amid allegations of Moscow's interference in other states' affairs, including the 2016 US presidential election, which Russia has denied. The panel aims to protect Russian sovereignty and prevent any interference in Russia's domestic affairs.
