Google is under escalating legal pressure in Russia, facing a staggering fine that has now accumulated to an astronomical $2.5 decillion, amid disputes over its refusal to reinstate accounts of pro-Kremlin and Russian media outlets.
According to Russia’s RBC news, 17 Russian TV channels have filed claims against Google after the tech giant blocked their accounts on YouTube due to international sanctions. In response, Russian courts imposed a daily fine of 100,000 rubles, doubling every 24 hours until paid.
The legal issue began privately in 2020 when accounts belonging to Russia’s Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN were blocked under U.S. sanctions. Tensions escalated following the Ukraine war, with YouTube also blocking Sputnik and RT, drawing the involvement of Russian authorities.
A Moscow judge noted the extraordinary scale of the case, saying it involved “many, many zeros,” as the fine has exponentially increased each week since 2020. Lawyer Ivan Morozov told Russia’s TASS news agency that the current fine in rubles is now over two undecillion—a 36-digit sum.
This amount vastly exceeds the global GDP, which the IMF estimates at $110 trillion. It also far surpasses Google’s recent third-quarter revenue of $88.2 billion and its $2 trillion market value, suggesting the tech giant is unlikely to settle the fine soon.
Despite Russia’s own platform bans, including those on X and Facebook, Google’s services, such as search and YouTube, remain accessible to Russian users, although the company’s Russian subsidiary, Google LLC, has declared bankruptcy.
In its latest earnings report, Google acknowledged the legal dispute but remained resolute, stating, “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect.”
