The situation is surprising. While Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are now blocked in Russia, Microsoft and Amazon have decided to leave the territory in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Google’s services remain well and truly accessible to the Russian population. Neither Russia nor the American firm seem to be ready to cut the cord.
This does not mean that relations between Google and the Kremlin are in good shape. Quite the contrary. Since the start of the war, the American giant has never been under so much pressure. To the point that its Russian subsidiary, whose bank account was seized by the Russian authorities, announced to AFP, on May 19, its intention to file for bankruptcy. The group had already greatly reduced its sails by moving its teams from Moscow to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) at the beginning of the spring, relates the wall street journal. A Russian court had also sentenced the American giant to a fine of 11 million rubles (more than 126,000 euros), last April, for not having removed “prohibited” content on the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
For its part, Google is no exception. The American group had suspended all its payment services in Russia at the start of the war. And state media can no longer generate money on its various platforms. The YouTube channels of these media, as well as Russian officials, have also been blocked.
Google stays in Russia
However, the online presence in Russia of the American giant is not in question for the moment. “People in Russia rely on our services to access quality information and we will continue to maintain free services such as Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Android and Play,” Google told AFP in particular. the announcement of the bankruptcy filing of its Russian subsidiary. Russia, by the voice of the Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev, quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax and taken up by CNN Businesssaid “not planning to block YouTube” – one of the most used Google services in Russia.
Which makes the specialist in the geopolitical issues of new technologies, Charles Thibout, say that “the acronym GAFAM is not always the most relevant”. According to him, it covers companies with very different realities. “It is thus much more difficult for a country to do without Google than Facebook”, continues the researcher at the Joint European Disruptive Initiative. Perfect illustration with Russia which today tries to isolate its Internet from the rest of the world. But who does not seem ready to make such a disconnect. First of all from a logistical point of view. “Blocking Google services in Russia today would undoubtedly pose a lot of technical problems that the authorities themselves have difficulty assessing,” he explains. Starting with the telephone network: “Eight out of ten mobile phones in Russia run on Android, recalls the researcher. Imagine if 80% of phones no longer work because you can no longer install updates…”
YouTube very popular in Russia
By the way, Google services are very popular in Russia. If we look figures from the StatCounter website, Russian Internet users used the Google search engine more (49.11%) than its Russian double Yandex (48.39%) in May 2022. Ditto for the consultation of Internet browsers: 55.45% of traffic goes through Google Chrome and only 16.47% by Yandex. “Nearly half of the population – 77 million users -” also uses YouTube in Russia, specifies the expert. The Russian authorities themselves, as well as pro-Kremlin media, used this video platform to broadcast their own messages to the population. “This gives Google services a lot of influence”, decrypts Charles Thibout.
Guaranteeing access to information in Russia
Google can no longer advertise in Russia, according to a decision taken by the Russian telecommunications policeman Roskomnadzor on April 7. By staying, the American firm is therefore making a strategic choice. “Google is undoubtedly betting on the future, analyzes the researcher. The company generates 1% of its turnover in Russia (about two billion dollars, editor’s note). It’s not nothing. Russia represents a market of more than 140 million potential users. Google is thus trying to maintain its market share while waiting for the end of the war. All the more so when we know how Russia is now consolidating its digital iron curtain with the ultimate goal of building its own “sovereign Internet”.
According to the researcher, we cannot ignore the moral values of the American firm either. “Google remains a very useful source of information for American intelligence. We cannot rule out the idea that the United States also has an interest in the giant staying put”, he poses as a first hypothesis. Then, he adds, “Google undoubtedly wants to appear as the one that allows the dissident voices of power to continue to express themselves, as well as the one that allows the Russians to continue to be informed in a plural way. and diverse.” On this subject, one of the co-founders of Google, Sergey Brin, a refugee from the former USSR, had declared to the New York Times in 2010 that living in a dictatorial system that imposes censorship had “definitely oriented” (his) opinions and in a way, those of (his) company”.