"It's only fair that the unholy profits of globalist Russophobes should serve for the benefit of Russian volunteers, refugees and all victims of the Nazi-banderovs, who broadcast their ideology of hatred with impunity through YouTube and Google. . ."
Editor's Note: This article was generated by machine translation, so our staff cautions the reader about possible inaccuracies that may have resulted from this. However, it was deemed worthwhile to still publish such a piece because of the intrinsic value of the message - which remains evident even in its translated form.
The confrontation between the Tsargrad TV Channel and the multinational corporation Alphabet, best known for its Google and YouTube services, has entered a decisive phase. Let us briefly recap the chronology of the conflict.
A year and a half of war
On July 28, 2020, Google blocked all of Tsargrad's accounts on its platforms. The most notable was the closure of the YouTube channel, which by then had more than a million subscribers.
Google attributed the closure to the fact that the channel's founder, Konstantin Malofeyev, a prominent Russian businessman and political activist, was under U.S. sanctions because of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
Tsargrad soon went to court demanding that the accounts be restored and that the agreement on monetization of advertising content be reinstated.
Almost simultaneously, several individuals also went to court, who believed that Google, occupying a monopolistic position in the video content market, had illegally deprived them of the opportunity to watch the channel's content and discuss topics with like-minded people.
Throughout 2021, the courts ruled one after the other that Tsargrad and its audience were right, despite repeated postponements and appeals.
The matter came to an end on December 16, 2021, in the Ninth Court of Appeals in Moscow. Google LLC, as well as the corporation's European and American offices, lost on all counts, and the court ordered them to fully restore all accounts. Otherwise, since Google so respects American law, the punishment should follow the same American pattern - in the form of an astreinte.
The corporation was put on the meter
An astreinte is a fine for failure to fulfill obligations, which grows in an unpleasant geometric progression for the defendant. In this particular case, it's only 100,000 rubles, but the amount doubles every week until the court's demands are met. This counter has no limits, only one caveat - when the amount reaches a billion, the doubling is suspended. And resumes again after nine months from the start of the astreinte.
Google diligently pretended to comply with the court order, but in fact it turned out to be a mockery of justice. That's why the astreinte began to take effect.
In March 2022, the notorious billion "ticked off", and now the "counter" will be turned on again in mid-September.
On March 14, bailiffs seized funds in the accounts of Google LLC.
On March 17 the Arbitration Court of Moscow Circuit heard and dismissed the appeal of Google Group in the dispute with the Tsargrad TV channel .
And on March 31st 1 billion rubles was written off in favor of Tzargrad. This is just the beginning, since the court ruling has still not been executed.
Where the money will go
A billion rubles (currently more than 11 millions dollars) is a lot of money, and the publication could live on it for many years. But the founder of Tsargrad, Konstantin Malofeev, declared that this money would go to support Russia's special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine:
"It's only fair that the unholy profits of globalist Russophobes should serve for the benefit of Russian volunteers, refugees and all victims of the Nazi-banderovs, who broadcast their ideology of hatred with impunity through YouTube and Google.
All for the front, all for victory!
Thus, for the first time, the money received from fighting our own people will be used for a good cause.
And, it seems, this will not be Google's last forced help to the Russian world. In September, the ruthless astreinte will begin his countdown again. There is no doubt that by then Google will try to flee Russia, but this will not help it: Tsargrad's writs of execution will be recognized in all friendly countries, and the channel's lawyers will be able to pursue the corporation all over the world. Konstantin Malofeev does not leave his opponent a chance:
We will continue to pursue them all over the world, blocking and confiscating their money. And if we can't expect justice in the West, which launched a sanctions war against us, then the multibillion-dollar Google business in Asia, Africa and Latin America will have a hard time. We attack them in all host countries steadily and methodically.
Tsargrad has shown the world that disrespect for Russia's laws comes at a great cost, not only figuratively, but in the truest sense.
Source: tsargrad.tv (Russian)