Alphabet’s Russian subsidiary Google plans to file for bankruptcy after the government seized its bank account, the company said Wednesday, in a clear escalation of the Kremlin’s willingness to isolate Russians over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Google Russia filed for bankruptcy after the seizure of its bank account made it “unsustainable” to meet its monetary obligations, a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Forbes and other media outlets.
Google’s goal of filing for bankruptcy is already in the Russian monetary registry Fedresurs, according to Reuters and Russian news firm RIA Novosti.
A corporate spokesman said Google would continue to offer loose services, its search engine, YouTube and Gmail.
Google has arguably been Russia’s biggest enemy in challenging the narrative complex of war through Kremlin-controlled media in the country since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Google suspended all advertising in Russia in March, banned YouTube channels from Russian state media around the world and refused to remove data about the war deemed illegal from Youtube. Russia’s communications regulator has threatened to punish Google for failing to remove some of the content, and Russia banned Google News from the country last month for publishing “inauthentic” data about the war. .
“People in Russia depend on our facilities to access quality information,” the Google spokesperson said in explaining the company’s goal of keeping YouTube and other facilities running.
In addition to YouTube, the Russian government has another U. S. -based data foe. Wikipedia. La online encyclopedia refused to delete data on the war and added Ukrainian government data on the death toll among civilians and soldiers, prompting the Russian government to threaten Wikipedia with fines. Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to the Kremlin’s war on Wikipedia earlier this month and told Russians not to accept the collaborative online encyclopedia as true in an interview with state media.
Putin intensifies new enemies of information: Wikipedia (Forbes)
Google’s Russian subsidiary to file for bankruptcy following bank account seizure (Reuters)