Russia fines Google an impossible amount in attempt to end YouTube bans

Russia has fined Google an amount that no entity on the planet could pay in hopes of getting YouTube to lift bans on Russian channels, including pro-Kremlin and state-run news outlets. The BBC wrote that a Russian court fined Google two undecillion rubles, which in dollar terms is $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. The amount "is far greater than the world's total GDP, which is estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be $110 trillion." The fine is apparently that large because it was issued several years ago and has been repeatedly doubling. An RBC news report this week provided details on the court case from an anonymous source. The Moscow Times writes, "According to RBC's sources, Google began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles in 2020 after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels. Those daily penalties have doubled each week, leading to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion rubles." The Moscow Times is an independent news organization that moved its operations to Amsterdam in 2022 in response to a Russian news censorship law. The news outlet said that 17 Russian TV channels filed legal claims against Google, including the state-run Channel One, the military-affiliated Zvezda broadcaster, and a company representing RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

Kremlin rep: “I cannot even say this number”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Google has "blocked more than 1,000 YouTube channels, including state-sponsored news, and over 5.5 million videos," Reuters wrote. A Kremlin spokesperson discussed the fine with reporters today. "Although it is a concretely formulated sum, I cannot even say this number. Rather it is filled with symbolism," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing, according to the Moscow Times. Peskov said the fine "should be a reason for Google's management to pay attention to this and fix the situation. This is the best that the company can do." Reuters quoted Peskov as saying that the court orders "demonstrate the essence of our channels' claims against Google. Google should not restrict the activities of our broadcasters, and Google is doing this." We contacted Google and will update this article if it provides a response. Google parent Alphabet, however, described its legal problems in Russia in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday: "We have ongoing legal matters relating to Russia. For example, 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. We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect." After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Google suspended ad sales, blocked Play Store app sales, and moved most of its employees out of the country. In July 2022, Russia fined Google over $370 million for refusing to comply with censorship demands, including demands to remove content that Russia deemed to be "fake news" about the war in Ukraine. Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after authorities seized its bank account. In August of this year, Google announced that it was shutting down all AdSense accounts in Russia due to "ongoing developments" in the country.