Russian Authorities Block Google Over “Inaccurate” War Info

Moscow, March 24: Russia’s communications regulator announced that it was blocking the news aggregator service of Alphabet Inc’s Google, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday. The regulator accused it of allowing users access to what it called fake material about the country’s military operation in Ukraine.

The Russian move comes after Google said it would not help websites, apps and YouTube channels sell ads alongside content that were deemed exploitative, dismissive or which condoned the conflict in Ukraine. The tech giant had earlier this month announced it would stop selling all online ads in Russia. Roskomnadzor, the Russian regulator, had acted on a request from the office of Russia’s prosecutor general, after a new Russian law was passed which makes it illegal to report any event that could discredit the Russian military. UNI