Google said on Monday that it supported responsible political advertising that complies with local legislation, followung accusations of circulating such advertising during the Russian elections at the weekend.

Russia's communications watchdog said Google and Facebook had circulated political advertising during the polls, which it said could be seen as interference.

“We support responsible political advertising and expect that it has to comply with local legislative demands including the laws on elections and voting rights and mandatory ‘election silence’ for any geographical areas where such advertising is oriented,” Google said in a statement.

For its part, Facebook on Monday said that advertisers, and not the company itself, were responsible for complying with local election laws.