The Russian court fined Google two sextillion rubles (one 2 and 36 zeros) for restrictions on Russian state channels on YouTube. This money is more than there is in the whole world – writes the BBC.
Converted to US dollars, that means the tech giant has been ordered to pay $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (20 trillion dollars).
Google, or more precisely its parent company Alphabet, is one of the richest companies in the world, worth $2 trillion. However, the punishment of the Russian court is very high. Moreover, according to the BBC, it is actually much larger than the total global domestic product, which the International Monetary Fund estimates at $110 trillion.
The fine has reached such a high point that, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, it doubles with each day of non-payment.
According to TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that he “can't even pronounce the number” but called on “Google management” to pay attention to the problem.
The company has not commented publicly and did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
The Russian website RBC reports that Google's fine is related to limiting the content of 17 Russian channels related to local media on YouTube. Although the first steps against Russian propaganda appeared in 2020, they intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine two years later.
We remind you that as a result, most Western companies left Russia, and business there was also strictly limited by sanctions. The activities of many Russian media in Europe were also restricted, as a result of which Moscow took countermeasures. As the BBC points out, the Russian court ruling is the latest episode in the escalation of tensions between Russia and the American technology giant.
In May 2021, Russian regulator Roskomnadzor accused Google of restricting access to content from Russian broadcasters such as RT and Sputnik on its YouTube platform, as well as supporting “illegal protest actions”.
Then, in July 2022, Russia fined Google 21.1 billion rubles (£301 million) for failing to restrict access to so-called “banned” material about the war in Ukraine and other content.
As the BBC points out, press freedom is virtually non-existent in Russia, and independent media and freedom of expression are severely restricted.
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