Pro-Russian leaders occupying territories in eastern Ukraine have blocked off access to Google’s search engine, accusing the tech giant of promoting “terrorism and violence against all Russians.”
The Donetsk People’s Republic, a self-proclaimed breakaway state located in eastern Ukraine, banned the search engine in its territory Friday, just days after slapping the company with a hefty fine for failing to regulate content prohibited in the region. Leaders in the area had already banned Facebook and Instagram for similar reasons, accusing the companies of promoting anti-Russia propaganda.
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“The inhuman propaganda of Ukraine and the West has long crossed all boundaries. There is a real persecution of Russians, the imposition of lies and disinformation,” Denis Pushilin, the leader of the DPR, said in a Telegram post. “[Google] openly, on the orders of its curators from the U.S. government, promotes terrorism and violence against all Russians and especially the population of Donbas [in eastern Ukraine].”
Russia fined Google $377 million on Monday for failing to remove content detailing the war in Ukraine that the Kremlin denounced as “fake news.”
Russian leaders quickly cracked down on internet posts after its invasion of Ukraine in February, making it illegal to criticize the war. Instead, the Kremlin refers to the war as a “special military operation.”
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Google searches are not blocked in Russia, although other sites, such as Facebook, have been banned in the country. The search engine is banned in Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-backed territories located in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic in late February, a move that served as a pretext for the war just days before Russia invaded Ukraine.
