A Russian media outlet that uses religious messaging to spread propaganda about the Ukrainian invasion has attached the shares and trademarks of Google SA ahead of its attempt to use local courts to act against the tech giant. NEWS24 is reporting that South Africa has almost nothing to do with the matter, but through a strange turn of events, No Fond Pravoslavnogo Televideniya (NFPT), which translates from Russian to The Foundation for Orthodox Television, is trying to reclaim a debt from Google’s international business through local courts.
The High Court in Johannesburg has awarded a court order to the media group that approved the attachment of the Google shares and trademarks in South Africa. This is until litigation over the main dispute with the tech giant has been finalised. The attachment motion was brought ex parte, meaning that Google did not have an opportunity to respond to the claim. The dispute started when Google banned the media outlet from YouTube in March 2022.
This was a month after the Russian attack on Ukraine when the publication was added to a US sanctions list.
The entity’s outlet, called Spas TV Channel, was also added to a European Union sanction list in December 2023.
NFPT still posted content through the Spas TV Channel, on a Russian alternative to YouTube called RuTube.
NEWS24 reports that the content is focused on Russian Orthodox talking points but also features clear support for the Russian military operations.
On Monday, the channel featured a Russian foreign ministry representative who briefed viewers about when “the Ukrainian Nazis will answer for their crimes in the Donbas”. NFPT challenged the YouTube ban in an arbitration court in Moscow, which ruled in March last year that Google’s ban on the outlet was illegal and had to be overturned. Google LLC, the company’s international business, appealed the matter but was unsuccessful. Google did not appear.
The court slapped Google with a fine provided for in Russian law called astreinte. A Russian media outlet that uses religious messaging to spread propaganda about the Ukrainian invasion has attached the shares and trademarks of Google SA ahead of its attempt to use local courts to act against the tech giant.
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