Russia imposes a monstrous fine on Google exceeding total global GDP

The search engine giant Google has been slapped with a fine of $2.5 decillion – an amount which involves 36 zeroes – by a Russian court for allegedly blocking pro-Kremlin propaganda on its video streaming platform YouTube.

The fine is equal to $2.5 trillion trillion trillion and it has grown enormously because of the accumulation of fines in the last four years. The figure continues to double every week as per Russian law.

In 2020, the United States-based tech giant was originally penalised 100,000 rubles ($1,029.35) after it lost lawsuits filed by media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN challenging the restrictions on their YouTube channels.

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How did Google accumulate the huge fine?

The massive fine was first reported by state-run news site RBC on Tuesday (Oct 29) and it said that Google had banned other media outlets in 2022 because they supported the invasion of Ukraine by Russia which resulted in more fines.

Last year, Google reported revenue of $306 billion and placed a restriction on the creation of new accounts for Russian people last month. The company also deactivated AdSense accounts present in Russia in August.

Since March 2022, online ads have not been shown to Google users in Russia as part of broader sanctions against the country.

Because of the restrictions, Russian authorities seized the bank accounts of Google and forced the Russian subsidiary of the US firm to file for bankruptcy. 

However, Google's free services, which include YouTube and Search, have been operating in Russia.

In the latest quarterly results published on Tuesday evening, Google acknowledged facing legal issues in Russia.

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“We have ongoing legal matters relating to Russia,” said the company, in the report. 

“For example, civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties. We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect,” it added.

"Google was called by a Russian court to administrative liability under Art. 13.41 of the Administrative Offenses Code for removing channels on the YouTube platform. The court ordered the company to restore these channels," said lawyer Ivan Morozov, while speaking to state-run media TASS.

The fine did not seem to have any impact on Google parent company Alphabet as its shares rose by more than five per cent in after-market trading on Tuesday (Oct 29).

(With inputs from agencies)