According to the news of the Russian news agency Interfax, Russia’s communications regulator announced that it has blocked the Google News site owned by Alphabet company in the country.
The agency accuses Google News of giving access to what it calls false information about Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
No further details were included in the Interfax report.
According to a new law in Russia, it is now illegal to report any incident that could discredit the Russian military.
On the other hand, Alphabet company, headquartered in the USA, reported that the search engine will not assist in selling ads to sites, apps and YouTube channels with content that condone or capitalizes on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Helping publishers generate revenue with its ad practice, Google prevents ads from appearing next to content that promotes violence and denies tragic events, as per company policy. Google also considers wars within the scope of this company policy.
“It’s true that we’ve taken additional steps to clarify and, in some cases, expanded our monetization guide to the war in Ukraine,” said Michael Aciman, Google’s company spokesperson.
In an email to publishers, Google noted that it would not run ads “alongside such examples as blaming victims for allegations that imply victims are responsible for their own tragedies, or for alleged Ukraine perpetrating genocide or deliberately attacking its own citizens.”
Google also has a policy that prohibits ads that exploit sensitive events. War also falls within the scope of this company policy.
Top Russian officials argue that Western media misreported the conflict in Ukraine. Russia calls its attack on Ukraine a “special operation” to demilitarize the country.
Many major Western advertising and social media services have introduced new conflict-related content and payment restrictions, including the blocking of Russian state media RT and Sputnik in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Google announced that it has stopped selling all online ads in Russia.