MOSCOW -Russia's communications watchdog on Monday gave Google 24 hours to delete what it called prohibited content or be fined and said Moscow could eventually slow down the company's traffic in the country.

Russia has already placed a punitive slowdown on U.S. social network Twitter for not deleting banned content, part of a push by Moscow to rein in Western tech giants and beef up what it calls its internet "sovereignty".

The watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it had sent more than 26,000 calls to Google to remove illegal information, including videos containing information on drugs or violence.

"If (Google) does not restrict access to the banned information within 24 hours, it will be fined between 800,000 roubles and 4 million roubles ($10,800-$54,000)," it said.

The watchdog said a repeat offence would be punishable by a fine of up to 10% of the company's total annual revenue.

"The volume and timing of Google's failure to remove (banned) content available in Russia is such that traffic slowdowns may be imposed on the company's services," it said.

Google Russia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moscow court documents showed earlier on Monday that Google was suing Roskomnadzor in court over the demands that it remove banned content.

Google filed that lawsuit on April 23, documents from Moscow's Arbitration Court showed, but it was only accepted on May 11 after some administrative issues had been ironed out. A hearing is scheduled for July 14.

  - Reuters