YouTube feels heat as Russia ramps up “digital sovereignty” drive

The Russian-language online news channel was best known for its priestly presenters and conspiratorial musings about the global financial system plotting against Moscow—suspicions it viewed as confirmed last July when the Google-owned streaming service took the channel down over what it claimed was a US sanctions breach.

Now Tsargrad is poised to strike back after a landmark court ruling that could put Google’s entire Russian business in jeopardy as Moscow steps up attempts to force western technology companies to comply with its laws.

A Moscow court last month ordered Google to reinstate Tsargrad’s YouTube channel globally on the grounds the ban had unfairly discriminated against its owner, Konstantin Malofeev.

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