Russia: Roskomnadzor requires Google (YouTube) to stop spreading advertising messages classified as false by Russian authorities

On 3 March 2022, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) sent a letter to Google, YouTube's parent company, demanding it to stop the distribution of information regarding the Russian military operation in Ukraine in the form of advertising. Roskomnadzor claimed that the advertising messages displayed on YouTube contain information classified by the Russian government as false or inaccurate. Furthermore, Roskomnadzor alleged that the advertising messages are not age-labelled and contain misinformation. Roskomnadzor thus required Google to revise its policy regarding content moderation of advertising and stop the spread of advertisements related to military operations.