YEREVAN. – An unprecedented IT conference—the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2019—has kicked off in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, Zhoghovurd (People) newspaper reported.

“The Yerevan assembly of this world congress is certainly important. But alongside this high benchmark, let’s record that there are no Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or such corporations’ representations in Armenia. These companies strive to have representatives in countries where the market is large, and therefore the interests, too.

“However, the Armenianization of information platforms will enable Armenian users to make money legitimately, and the country will become recognizable on the information map. Meanwhile, even against the backdrop of the mightiest Yerevan congress, Armenia is essentially a fake country for these corporations because many users, including media representatives, are attempting to make money with their views by way of a short cut, which eventually leads to being blocked.

“The Zhoghovurd daily conversed with coordinator Vardan Grigoryan of Google Developer Group Armenia. (...). In V. Grigoryan’s words, Google has no interest in small countries. ‘They have been told through some channels that we [Armenia] don’t have that tool [for localization], and it’s very much needed. And, most likely, the ‘ice’ should move, but I don’t know when,’ V. Grigoryan concluded; that is, Armenian users should dash hopes in the near future, too, of the prospect for making legitimate money by way of online, and thus being accountable in the tax field,” Zhoghovurd wrote.