Russian court fines Google more money than the world's entire GDP

Sunday, November 3, 2024

On October 30, a top Russian court fined American tech-giant Google for blocking Russian state media channels in YouTube.

The amount of the fine was two undecillion rubles – a two followed by 36 zeroes
(US$ 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) – an amount beyond the entire world’s GDP, which is estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be US$110 trillion.

“Although it is a specific amount, I cannot even say this number, it is rather filled with symbolism,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), a Russian state news agency.

The court also ordered Google to restore the accounts within nine months, with a fine of RU₽100,000 (US$1,000) per day after that period.

This fine was made after litigation was filed in 2020, according to NBC News, by seventeen Russian television channels and other media outlets.

Google’s Russian YouTube subsidiary paused commercial operations after U.S. sanctions were imposed on Russia in response to its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, directly impacting the subsidiary.

According to CNN, Google made reference to the legal dispute in a quarterly earnings statement: “Civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties.” Google added, “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect [on earnings].”

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