UPDATE: Watchdog warns Google of non-interference in Russian elections

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MOSCOW, Sep 4 (PRIME) -- The Russian communications service has sent official letters to Google warning it of the prohibition to provide resources for advertisements of illegal activities in Russia on the day of elections, the authority’s Deputy Director Vadim Subbotin said on Tuesday.

“Tens of specialized YouTube channels, counting over 40, constantly conduct massive campaigns with calls to violate the Russian laws. By offering almost unlimited possibilities from foreign Internet giants, such as Google, a number of entities interested in destabilizing the situation in the Russian Federation try to involve users in illegal activities in the Internet,” Subbotin said.

“We’ve sent letters to Google already. We would like to warn foreign companies, including Google, of inadmissibility of providing their resources for illegal activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Google has all the tools to put an end to distribution of information that could be viewed as interference in elections, Subbotin said. Russia will hold the single voting day on Sunday.

In order to comply with demands of local authorities and the Central Election Commission on non-interference in elections, Google must stop distributing any advertisement or propaganda of “events violating the election law,” he said.

“We’ll watch their reaction,” he said.

The communications service and the Central Election Commission notified Google of responsibility for mailing out calls to law-violating campaigns on the election day.

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