Russia fines Google
A fine of approximately $2.5 decillion, or two undecillion rubles, was allegedly levied on Google by a Russian court for not reinstating the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-controlled media. One undecillion is equal to 10^36.
According to reports from RBC news, Google started incurring daily fines of 100,000 rubles in 2020 following legal victories by pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN for the blocking of their YouTube channels. The penalties have been doubling every week, resulting in the current fine of approximately 2 undecillion rubles, as reported by the Moscow Times.
Fines on Google
According to RBC news, at the latest court session on Monday, October 28, the judge referred to a lawsuit involving “numerous zeros.”
Sources informed RBC news that the Russian court fined Google for not meeting the obligation to reinstate Russian media accounts on YouTube, which is owned by Google.
The report stated that the third-party victims included various TV channels such as Zvezda, Channel One, VGTRK (Russia 1, Russia 24, etc.), Parliamentary Television, Moscow Media, TV Center, NTV, GPM Entertainment Television, Public Television of Russia, TV Channel 360, TRK Petersburg, Orthodox Television Foundation, National Sports TV Channel, Technological Company Center, and IP Simonyan M.S., representing Margarita Simonyan’s YouTube channel.
In these cases, the court had previously instructed Google to reinstate their YouTube accounts. It was documented that a fine would be imposed for not following the rules.
The report stated that the TV channels Zvezda, Channel One, VGTRK (TV channels Russia 1, Russia 24, etc.), Parliamentary Television, Moscow Media, TV Center, NTV, GPM Entertainment Television, Public Television of Russia, TV Channel 360, TRK Petersburg, Orthodox Television Foundation, National Sports TV Channel, Technological Company Center, and IP Simonyan M.S. who represents the YouTube channel of TV presenter Margarita Simonyan were the third-party victims in the case.
In these instances, Google was previously instructed by the court to reinstate their YouTube accounts. Reports indicated that a fine would be imposed for failure to comply.
Failure to comply with the court’s decision within nine months of its entry into force will result in a daily fine of 100,000 rubles. The local report mentioned that the fine would continue to double each week until the decision is put into place, with no maximum limit on the total amount of the fine.
Sources allegedly stated that the fine in September amounted to nearly 13 decillion (1 followed by 33 zeros).
Legal disputes between Russian media companies and Google started in 2020 when YouTube suspended Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN accounts over sanctions and trade rule violations; their owners have been sanctioned by the US since 2014.
Why did YouTube block Russian channels?
The lawsuits originated from YouTube’s decision to block Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN due to violating sanctions laws and trade regulations.
This resulted in Tsargrad taking legal action against Google in the Moscow Arbitration Court, leading to a court order for Google to unblock the accounts or face increasing fines.
After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the situation escalated with YouTube restricting access to several state channels like Sputnik and RT.
Google response
Google and its parent company Alphabet have yet to issue a public statement regarding the current legal conflicts in Russia. In its most recent financial update for the second quarter of 2024, Alphabet stated that the current conflicts with Russia will not greatly impact their overall business. Alphabet also recognized that the legal issues involve account closures and increasing fines linked to suspended accounts of sanctioned persons.
Google’s Russia entity declared bankrupt in 2023
In the summer of 2022, Google’s Russian branch applied for bankruptcy, and by November 2023, a court formally declared it bankrupt. The Alphabet company reported debts of over 19 billion rubles, with the subsidiary’s assets valued at just 3.5 billion rubles, prompting the decision to halt advertising activities in Russia as per Western sanctions.
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