Russia fines Google $20 Decillion – more than all the money in the world

A Russian court has fined Google an astronomical $20 trillion — an amount that significantly exceeds the world’s total money supply — after the tech giant banned accounts belonging to several pro-Kremlin TV channels on YouTube.

The case, which has captured global attention due to the unprecedented number of people involved, reflects growing tensions between Google and Russia in the wake of international sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine.

The lawsuit was filed by 17 Russian radio stations, including Russia 1 and Russia Today presenter Margarita Simonyan, a staunch supporter of President Putin. Google’s YouTube removed those accounts under the sanctions, prompting Moscow judges to impose a punitive fine that the judge described as “a case where there are lots and lots of zeros,” according to Russian news outlet RBC.

Initially, the fine was set at 100,000 rubles per day, doubling every 24 hours since 2020. The resulting penalty has now swelled to $20 million and a market capitalization of $2 trillion, far exceeding Google’s total revenue of $88.2 billion and a market capitalization of $2 trillion. Trillion dollars The estimated value of the global economy is about 100 trillion dollars, according to the World Bank.

Despite the mounting pressure, Google has shown few signs of compliance, noting in its latest earnings report that “these ongoing legal issues” are unlikely to materially impact its operations. Google ended its Russian division in 2022, and its subsidiary Google LLC declared bankruptcy in Russia, although it continues to provide services such as its search engine and YouTube.

In contrast, other platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have been completely blocked by the Russian authorities, although Google services are still available. The removal of pro-Moscow content on YouTube has particularly angered the Kremlin, especially the ban on propaganda platforms such as Tsargrad TV, owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.

This huge sum, one of the largest penalties in legal history, may be more symbolic than practical given Google’s limited assets in Russia. However, as the legal strategy in Russia continues to escalate, the tech giant appears to be unprogressive, and its team notes that the situation is unlikely to amount to a fine amounting to a “googol” – a number equal to 10 followed by 100 zeros.