The channels’ beef with Google relates to the blocking of their YouTube accounts, with the case affecting federal television channels, including Channel One, Russia 1, Russia 24, the Defense Ministry’s Zvezda TV, as well as smaller channels, from Parliamentary Television and Moscow Media to TV-Center, NTV, 360 TV, the Orthodox Television Foundation, the National Sports Channel and the personal channel of Sputnik and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
A Russian court previously ordered Google to restore media companies' channels, ruling that if this is not done in a nine-month period, a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,030 US) would be slapped on the company daily, and double every week until Google complied, with no limit on the total fine.
Russian media first started a series of legal battles with Google in 2020, after YouTube blocked the accounts of Tsargrad TV and RIA Fan over alleged “sanctions legislation and trade rules”-related violations. Tsargrad took Google to court, with a judge ordering the company to unblock the account or face escalating fines.
In 2022 and the start of the conflict in Ukraine, YouTube blocked Sputnik, RT, NTV and Rossiya 24’s accounts, followed by others, prompting Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service to slap Google with 4 billion rubles ($41.1 million US) in fines.
In June of 2022, Google’s Russia-based entity filed for bankruptcy, citing debts in excess of 19 billion rubles and assets of only 3.5 billion rubles. A court declared the subsidiary bankrupt in late 2023.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the issue on Thursday, suggesting that the 2 undecillian sum is “filled with symbolism,” and “demonstrate[s] the essence of the claim of our channels to Google.”
Google parent company Alphabet confirmed in a Q2 2024 earnings report that it’s facing “ongoing” legal issues relating to Russia, assuring shareholders this would not significantly affect their business.