Google has started to remove certain entries from its search results in Russia in compliance with long-standing demands from the authorities, the Vedomosti business daily reported Wednesday.
Russia fined Google $7,500 in November 2018 for failing to take down certain search results. New regulations that went into effect in November 2017 require search engines to delete results to websites blacklisted by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor.
Roskomnadzor, which bans websites containing prohibited information on topics such as child pornography, drugs and suicide, has also been accused of being a tool of state censorship. The regulator has blocked access to corruption investigations by opposition activist Alexei Navalny, the LinkedIn social network and the Telegram messaging app, and is currently investigating BBC Russia over possible violations.