MOSCOW: In response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Google was fined an astounding 20 undecillion rubles ($2.5 decillion) for taking down Russian government and state-run YouTube channels.
Stated differently, the nation is imposing a $2.5 trillion trillion bill on Google. That amount is $2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 when typed out in its entirety.
The enormous amount, which he said he was unable to pronounce, was symbolic, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Google owes Russia 36 million dollars for blocking YouTube channels in violation of the nation’s administrative offenses statute.
According to the newspaper, if Google doesn’t pay the fine within nine months, it would double daily after that, with no cap on the total amount. Until Google pays the fee, it will not be allowed to enter Russia.
Russia’s massive fines against Google, the Kremlin said Thursday, were mostly symbolic and intended to pressure the internet behemoth into removing restrictions on Russian YouTube channels.
According to the Russian news agency RBK, the total amount of lawsuits against Google in Russia has topped two undecillion rubles, which is more than all of the world’s money combined.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, “I can’t even pronounce this number, but it is more likely imbued with symbolism,” he told Russian news media. Although it shouldn’t, Google does impose restrictions on our broadcasters’ activities.
The management of Google ought to take notice of this and make the necessary corrections,” he continued. Russia has imposed hefty fines on social media corporations accused of publishing pro-Ukraine or Kremlin-critical information since beginning its Ukraine war in February 2022.
Although YouTube is still accessible in Russia, officials have threatened to shut it down on several occasions because it prohibits state-owned Russian content.
In an effort to compel the tech giant to comply, Russian courts have penalized YouTube’s owner Google on multiple occasions; the expenses of the lawsuit increase every day that the company does not comply with Moscow’s requests.
Alphabet’s Google should remove its ban on Russian TV networks airing on YouTube, the Kremlin said, adding that it hoped the massive amount of lawsuits accumulating against the US-based business will force it to take action.
In March 2022, Google halted monetizing content that it considered to exploit, disregard, or support Russia’s war in Ukraine and stopped displaying advertisements to users in Russia.
Since then, it has blocked over 5.5 million videos and more than 1,000 YouTube channels, including state-sponsored news.
The legal claims made against Google by 17 Russian TV channels in Russian courts, which have imposed compound fines on Google’s turnover in Russia, have reached two undecillion roubles, a figure that contains 36 zeroes, according to a story published this week by the Russian business journal RBC.
Peskov said reporters, “These demands — they simply demonstrate the essence of our channels’ claims against Google.” “Our broadcasters’ actions shouldn’t be restricted by Google, and Google is doing just that.
The massive legal claims that are accumulating should likely be enough to get Google’s management to pay attention and make the necessary corrections.
