Google has been fined more money in Russia than anywhere else in the world, and the amount could l to rise.
According to reports, the US tech giant was fined $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or $20decillion, after a four-year legal battle.
The situation began when, in response to US sanctions against its owner, Google removed the ultra-nationalist Tsargrad channel from YouTube in 2020. However, additional channels were added to the banned list after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Since late 2014, US sanctions had been placed on the Tsargrad station’s owners. In 2021, a Russian court ordered Google to give the blocked accounts back access, with the threat of a progressive fine if this was not done.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February of that year, several additional YouTube channels, including Sputnik, NTV, Russia 24, and eventually all Russian state channels, were blocked in 2022.
After reportedly paying 1 billion rubles to Tsargrad, Google’s Russian legal entity filed for bankruptcy in June 2022, and bankruptcy was declared in November 2023.
One of 17 stations suing Google for removing its channels and content from YouTube was Zvezda, a television channel owned by Putin’s ministry of defense.
As a result of the Russian court’s decision in their favor, the steadily increasing fines have now reached this enormous sum.
A Russian court subjected Google to administrative liability under Art. For channel removal on the YouTube platform, see 13.41 of the Administrative Offenses Code. According to lawyer Ivan Morozov, who spoke with state media outlet TASS, the court instructed the company to restore these channels.
The court imposed a daily fine of 100,000 rubles, or approximately $1,025, which doubled weekly.
Google’s fine, which the Russian judge referred to as “a case in which there are many, many zeroes” on Monday, is the result of compound interest.
According to The Register, there are so many zeros that the total fine far exceeds the World Bank’s estimate of $100 trillion for global GDP.
However, it does not appear that Google will pay the fine or even attempt to do so.
The company reported quarterly revenue of $88 billion on Tuesday, far short of paying the Russian fine.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, appears to be quite at ease regarding the entire circumstance.
It stated in its most recent earnings statement: Russia-related legal proceedings are ongoing for us.
‘For instance, in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties, civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us.
“We do not believe that these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect,” the statement reads.