Tsargrad: bailiffs have blocked the Google accounts on the grounds of the lawsuit for reactivating access to the channel on Youtube

Bailiffs have blocked the Google accounts to enforce court judgments in the dispute with Tsargrad, reports the TV channel. This Tsargrad information was confirmed by Partner of the Art de Lex law firm (represents the interests of the channel) Dmitry Magonya.

The exact amount of the blocked funds is not stated. The day before, the TV channel announced that the first billion roubles had been blocked on the Google accounts. The decision was made, because the American company had ignored the court judgment for reactivating access to the removed Tsargrad channel at the Youtube video hosting owned by it.

The Tsargrad account that positions itself as “the first Russian conservative news TV channel” was blocked in July 2020. Google explained this by the fact that the Tsargrad founder Konstantin Malofeev had been under US sanctions since 2014 in connection with the armed conflict in the East of Ukraine.

In August 2020, the TV channel founder Tsargrad Media filed a lawsuit to the Commercial Court of Moscow with a claim to restore its account and pay compensation for all earnings from content monetization lost in connection with its removal.

In April 2021, the court fully satisfied the lawsuit and ordered, in case of a failure to fulfil the judgment, to impose on Google a progressive penalty that by March this year would reach the limit amount of one billion roubles. If Google still fails to execute the court judgment after September 2022, the penalty shall be charged without any cap limitation, said Magonya. Google cassation against the decision on the necessity to restore access to the Tsargrad Youtube account was dismissed. 

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