Russian Court Imposes $2.5 Decillion Fine on Google for YouTube Content Blocking

A Russian court has issued an astonishing fine against Google, purportedly totaling more than all the money in existence, for allegedly blocking specific YouTube videos.

Beginning in 2020, Russian media organizations initiated legal action against Google, accusing the tech giant of curbing access to the media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN on YouTube “due to violations of sanctions legislation and trade regulations.”

Initially, the courts ruled in favor of the media companies, ordering Google to pay a fine of 100,000 rubles, which is roughly $1,000 USD.

According to Russian news outlet RBC, the situation intensified after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to further restrictions on additional news outlets and resulting in mounting fines.

In September, Google took further action by halting the creation of new accounts for Russian users and disabling AdSense accounts a month earlier.

As a result of four years’ worth of penalties, a Russian court has drastically escalated the amount owed to an astonishing 2 undecillion rubles, equating to approximately $2.5 decillion.

For perspective, this figure surpasses the total money in the world. According to the Independent, this translates to an unfathomable $2.5 trillion trillion trillion, or 2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

YouTube

Google faces a staggering $2.5 decillion lawsuit.

Even more astonishing is that this sum is set to double every week, as mandated by Russian law.

Russian media networks are now turning their attention to countries such as Turkey, Hungary, Spain, and South Africa to enforce the court’s ruling. RBC reported that in June, South Africa’s High Court approved the seizure of Google’s assets after the firm neglected to restore the YouTube account of the Russian TV channel Spas.

Despite having its bank accounts frozen, Google remains largely unfazed by these legal challenges. In its quarterly earnings report, Google addressed the ongoing lawsuits and expressed a lack of concern.

“We are currently dealing with various legal matters in relation to Russia,” they stated.

“For instance, we have been subjected to civil judgments that result in compounding penalties due to account terminations involving sanctioned parties. However, we do not anticipate these ongoing legal issues will significantly impact our operations.”

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