Tsargrad Wins Appeal Against Google In Russia, Now They Demand IDR 172 Billion Fine

JAKARTA - A television channel owned by a sanctioned Russian businessman said on Friday, April 1 that Russian judicial officers had seized 1 billion rubles (IDR 172 billion) from Alphabet Inc's Google over the US tech giant's failure to restore access to its YouTube account.

Google itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment via email. Russia's Federal bailiff service also did not immediately answer questions about this.

According to a Reuters report, the case is part of Moscow's broader pressure campaign against Big Tech that has escalated into a battle to control the flow of information since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24.

Russia has restricted access to Twitter and Meta Platforms Inc's flagship platforms, Facebook and Instagram. YouTube, which faces regular demands and threats from Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor, will soon meet the same fate.

Tsargrad TV, an Orthodox Christian channel owned by businessman Konstantin Malofeev, last month said Google had lost an appeals court against a 2021 decision that it was paying a 100.000 ruble (IDR 16.6 million) daily fine for blocking the channel's YouTube account.

The Moscow Court of Arbitration said last year the daily fine would double every week if Google failed to comply. Tsargrad, which calls itself a patriotic Russian television channel, said the fine would stop accruing when it reached 1 billion rubles, a level it reached in mid-March. Starting September, those restrictions will be removed.

The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Malofeev in 2014 over allegations he was funding pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Ukraine. However, this was immediately denied by the entrepreneur. Russia itself considers Western sanctions against them something illegal.

Tsargrad said it had received 1 billion rubles and warned it would seek money from Google abroad if the company continued to violate Russian laws, as threats had previously made.

"Tsargrad will send the 1 billion seized today to support Russia's special military operations to de-Nazify and demilitarize Ukraine," Tsargrad said.

Ukrainian troops have put up a tough fight and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in a bid to force it to withdraw.