Russia’s Record-Setting Fine: Symbolic Pushback Against Google
Russia has imposed a staggering fine on Google over its restriction of 17 Russian state media channels on YouTube. A Russian court has ordered the tech giant to pay an astronomical 2 undecillion roubles, equating to around $20 decillion USD ($US20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or $US20 trillion trillion trillion.)—a number so large it surpasses the world’s total wealth and even the global GDP.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov hinted that the monumental fine was symbolic, underscoring Russia’s objection to Google’s ongoing restrictions on Russian media. Google began limiting Russian content in March 2022, following its decision to stop monetizing media channels that appeared to exploit or dismiss Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Since then, Google has blocked over 1,000 YouTube channels and more than 5.5 million videos linked to Russian state media.
As penalties continue to accumulate, the fine could theoretically grow to $1 googol (a 1 followed by 100 zeros) in 219 weeks if left unpaid. Russia hopes that these accumulating fines will pressure Google to reconsider its stance on Russian media.
Source gnews