Russia is demanding an astronomical sum from Google, one of the world’s largest tech companies. The Kremlin claims Google owes over 2 undecillion rubles (a 2 followed by 36 zeroes) for not paying fines for blocking pro-Russian YouTube channels. This penalty, amounting to $20 decillion (or $20 billion trillion trillion), far exceeds the size of the global economy.
For
context, the world’s gross domestic product is about $110 trillion, according
to the International Monetary Fund. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has a
market value of around $2 trillion.
Russian
state media TASS reported that a Russian court had ordered Google to restore
the blocked YouTube channels, some of which have been inaccessible since 2022.
The fines are doubling weekly until compliance.
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the staggering figure, calling it
symbolic. He emphasized that Google should not restrict Russian broadcasters on
its platform.
Google,
in its recent quarterly earnings report, mentioned ongoing legal issues in
Russia, including compounding penalties for terminating accounts, some of which
belong to sanctioned parties. The company does not expect these legal matters
to significantly impact its earnings.
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