A Russian arbitration court has capped the fine Google must pay for blocking Russian propagandists’ YouTube channels. It has doubled every week and reached 2.86 duodecillion rubles (a number with 39 zeros) in February.
A Russian arbitration court has capped the fine Google must pay for blocking Russian propagandists’ YouTube channels. It has doubled every week and reached 2.86 duodecillion rubles (a number with 39 zeros) in February.
According to Russian media, the court ruled that the fine should not have increased since October 18, 2023, when Google LLC of Russia declared bankruptcy and was unable to comply with the Russian court’s decision to unblock it. At that time, the fine was «only» 91.5 quintillion rubles (about 43.68 quintillion hryvnias) or $1,092,000 trillion.
Google was fined in Russia in 2021 for refusing to restore blocked YouTube channels of Russian propagandists, including Channel One, VDTRK, NTV, and Zvezda.
In October 2024, a Russian court fined Google 2 undecillion rubles (that’s 36 zeros) for blocking Russian TV channel accounts on YouTube. This amount is significantly more than the total world wealth, estimated at $477 trillion (46.6 quadrillion rubles).
The fine calculation mechanism provided for an initial amount of 100,000 rubles for each day of non-compliance with the court decision, with this amount subsequently doubling every week. The lack of an upper limit for the fine led to its exponential growth.
In February 2025, the fine reached 2.86 duodecillion rubles (a number with 39 zeros). Earlier, a Russian district court additionally fined Google $77.9 million (8 billion rubles) for refusing to remove content considered illegal in the Russian Federation.
