Russia has fined Google after claiming it failed to delete YouTube videos that promoted “false information” and “LGBT propaganda”. 

Alphabet-owned Google has been ordered to pay 3m roubles ($38,000) as Russia pushes for more control over what its citizens see online. 

The Russian government has issued an increasing number of fines to Western technology companies over the past year. 

Google has been accused of refusing to remove a number of videos on YouTube, many of which Russia has deemed as being “LGBT propaganda.”

One video, in particular, was deemed by Russian prosecutors as being made by a “foreign agent” about the LGBT community in St. Petersburg, according to the TASS news agency. 

The fine comes after Russia enforced a new law narrowing down what it deems as the “promotion of LGBT propaganda”.

Russia’s brutal new law, which was added to its already strict censorship, deems any positive depiction of homosexuality in the media as akin to distributing pornography or the promotion of violence, the BBC reported.

The Russian subsidiary of Google filed for insolvency last year after receiving a fine of 7.2bn roubles ($92m) which led to its bank accounts being seized by authorities.

Russian prosecutors claim the fine was given after the company’s “repeated failure” to delete content. 

“The Russian authorities seizure of Google Russia’s bank account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations,” a Google spokesperson said at the time. 

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