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How Moscow had threatened Google executive last year to take down an app: Report
FSB agents threatened a top executive of Google in Moscow that is Navalny's app is not taken down, she will be charged with treason, the report said. When Google shifted her to the safety of a hotel, FSB agents reached there too, the Washington Post report revealed.
The groundwork of the ongoing attack on Ukraine was laid months ago when Russia started cracking down on social media giants in the country to curb free speech, a Washington Post report has claimed. The report said Russian agents threatened Google's top executive last year that the Smart Voting app, developed by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his team to help Russians register protest against Putin had to be taken down from Google of the top executive would be taken to prison.
The investigative report of the Washington Post claimed Google took the woman executive and lodged her at a hotel under proper security. But there too, FSB agents reached and warned that she is running out of time.
This reportedly happened in September and within hours, the app was taken down.
“The unnerving encounters, which have not previously been disclosed, were part of a broader campaign that Putin intensified last year to erode sources of internal opposition — moves now helping him maintain his hold on power amid a global backlash over the invasion of Ukraine,” the report said.
Moscow, last year, also deployed new devices that blocked Russians’ access to Facebook and Twitter, it said.
The threat that Google’s top executive reportedly received did not ring an alarm bell and Google, the report said, kept its employees in Russia and continued negotiation with Kremlin.
The Google executive, a Russian citizen, was threatened with treason, the report said. Quoting Google officials, the report said that the decision to remove the app did not go down well. “We resisted this position for as long as possible. but nothing is more important to Google than the safety and well-being of our employees,” the internal e-mail said.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine is raging, experts believe these tactics are working as according to one Russian poll, the authenticity of which can be doubted, 58% of Russians approve the invasion of Ukraine.
