In 2020, without warning or explanation, YouTube blocked the account of Tsargrad TV, a major media resource with an audience of over one million subscribers.
The Moscow Arbitration Court ordered the American corporation Google to restore the blocked account of the religious TV channel Tsargrad on YouTube. In case of non-compliance with the decision of the Russian court the company will have to pay a huge penalty, reports "Tsargrad-TV".
The TV channel filed a lawsuit against Google last August and, after a number of sessions, on April 13 the court granted its claims against the corporation in full.
"The court ruled that Google must fully execute the contract and our account must be restored," Tsargrad lawyer Elena Levina explained. "At the same time, if the court requirements are not satisfied, the court's decision provides for a progressive penalty. The court ruled that its amount will increase by 100 thousand rubles per day [...] I would like the court to triumph. But we'll see how it goes in reality."
In a comment for "Interfax" news agency, representatives of a media outlet specified that in addition to restoring the blocked "Tsargrad TV" account, Google was also obliged to reimburse the owner of the media for the funds lost from monetization of content.
Lawyers call this case a precedent both in Russia and globally.
Google may appeal the decision of the Moscow court to the court of appeals within two months.
Recall that on July 28, 2020, without warning or explanation, the video hosting site YouTube blocked the account of Tsargrad , which has over a million subscribers. Google explained that this was due to the implementation of the sanctions law – Konstantin Malofeev, the founder of the TV channel, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014.
without warning or explanation, the video hosting site YouTube blocked the account of Tsargrad, which has over a million subscribers. Google explained that this was due to the implementation of the sanctions law - Konstantin Malofeev, the founder of the TV channel, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014.
Konstantin Malofeev himself then said that the channel's account was blocked because of the content aimed at protecting family values.
Source: spzh.ru (Russian)