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Key Takeaways
- Russia demands $20 decillion fine from Google for banning Russian-led channels, exceeding global GDP.
- Conflict began in 2020, resulting in sanctions on Russian channels, leading to increasing fines.
- Google LLC declared bankrupt, assets seized, no compromise reached, fines still growing daily.
Google has been hit by an absolutely massive fine from Russia to the tune of $20 decillion USD. The fine is in response to Google’s actions regarding several Russian-led YouTube channels being banned from the service.
As the conflict in Ukraine has continued, the internet has been impacted by the fallout, as well. Numerous websites and services have closed monetization to Russian citizens, preventing people like Russian-based streamers on Twitch from earning money. However, this particular fine dates back to a lawsuit dating back to 2020, which has continued to grow ever since.
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Russia is seeking a stunning 2 undecillion rubles from Google for banning several Russian-led channels on the service according to the RBC Group. To put this into perspective, this amount would be $2.5 decillion USD, or 2.5 trillion trillion trillion dollars. The number is continuing to grow despite the fact that the global GDP in 2022 was only $100 trillion USD. In other words, Russia is demanding a higher fine than all the current liquid monetary value in circulation around the planet. Google parent company Alphabet itself saw $307 billion USD revenue in 2023. Despite its inability to pay such a huge fine, it continues to grow daily.
How The Conflict Between YouTube and Russia Started
In 2020, Google was sued for banning the Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN channels “in connection with violations of sanctions legislation and trade rules.” Following the ban, Tsargrad TV filed a lawsuit in August of 2020, demanding that the ban be lifted and the channels allowed to operate on the website once again. By 2021, the court had decided in favor of the Russian channels, with a threat of a fine if no action was taken. Rather than unbanning the channels, more were added to the list starting in 2022, when Sputnik, NTV and Russia 24, plus all Russian state channels were banned from the site. By 2022, Google’s Russian legal branch, Google LLC, had declared bankruptcy and its assets were seized to partially satisfy the Russian fines. However, by then, the fines held against Google LLC were over 19 billion rubles (roughly $196 million USD), but its assets were only worth 3.5 billion rubles (approximately $36 million USD).
At this point, there seems to be no end in sight for the lawsuit or any effort on Google’s part to compromise with Russia regarding the fine. Whether the Russian government will take any action regarding the fine remains to be seen, but for the time being, it seems it will continue to increase on a daily basis.
