New Delhi:
Russia issued a fine against Google, estimated at an astronomical $20 decillion – a 2 followed by 34 zeroes. The unprecedented penalty targets YouTube, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, over the platform’s decision to block Russian state-run media channels in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This sum far exceeds any reasonable financial scale, surpassing the entire global economy many times over.
The penalty arose after a Russian court ruled that Google violated national broadcasting rules by barring channels from Russian state-backed media outlets on YouTube. The fine is compounded by an additional ruling that demands the restoration of these channels, with the fines doubling each day if the platform fails to comply within a nine-month period.
The issue traces back to March 2022, when YouTube announced a global ban on several Russian state-operated channels, including RT and Sputnik. The platform justified its decision by pointing to content policies prohibiting material that denies, minimises, or trivialises violent events. YouTube has enforced such policies against channels supporting Russia’s narratives around the Ukraine conflict, removing over 1,000 channels and more than 15,000 videos globally. In Europe, restrictions on Russian state media accounts were imposed before the ban expanded worldwide. This action led to backlash from Russia, which views the move as censorship and suppression of its state-sponsored media.
Since 2020, Google has faced ongoing penalties, starting with a daily fine of 100,000 rubles (approximately $1,028) over blocked Russian channels from Tsargrad and RIA FAN, two prominent Russian state-affiliated media outlets.
According to reports, 17 Russian broadcasters have joined the legal fray, filing suits against Google and demanding the reinstatement of their channels on the platform.
Following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Google significantly curtailed its operations within Russia but stopped short of a complete exit. Services like YouTube and Google Search remain accessible within Russian borders. Unlike some American tech companies that fully withdrew, Google’s partial operations in Russia continue, although its Russia subsidiary filed for bankruptcy several months into the conflict after the Russian government seized its bank accounts.
The Kremlin has called the fine a largely symbolic measure intended to compel Google to reconsider its stance on Russian broadcasters. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, told Russian media that the monumental fine amount is intended to attract attention to the seriousness with which Russia views the issue of YouTube’s bans on Russian media. “I can’t even pronounce this figure right,” Peskov said.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has leveraged a range of penalties against foreign tech platforms for hosting content deemed anti-Russian or pro-Ukrainian. Although YouTube remains accessible within Russia, authorities have threatened to block the platform outright if it continues to restrict Russian media channels.