Kremlin says Google should lift its YouTube block on Russian broadcasters

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday that Alphabet’s Google should lift its block on Russian TV channels broadcasting on YouTube and said it hoped huge legal claims racking up against the U.S.-based company would jolt it into action.

Google stopped serving ads to users in Russia in March 2022 and paused monetisation of content which it deemed to exploit, dismiss or condone Russia’s war in Ukraine.

It has since blocked more than 1,000 YouTube channels, including state-sponsored news, and over 5.5 million videos.

Russian business newspaper RBC reported this week that legal claims brought by 17 Russian TV channels against Google in Russian courts, which have imposed compound fines on Google’s turnover in Russia, had reached 2 undecillion roubles, a number with 36 zeroes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the huge sum, which he said he couldn’t pronounce, was symbolic.

“These demands – they simply demonstrate the essence of our channels’ claims against Google,” Peskov told reporters. “Google should not restrict the activities of our broadcasters, and Google is doing this.

“Probably, this (the huge legal claims mounting up) should be a reason for Google’s management to take notice and rectify the situation. It’s the best thing the company can do.”

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow in London and Dmitry Antonov in Moscow; Editing by Andrew Osborn)