Russian Court Fines Google…$20.5 Decillion!

NEW YORK, NY – A Russian court has ordered Google to pay a staggering $20.5 decillion fine — an amount vastly surpassing the world’s entire GDP — along with an additional $1 million daily penalty after the tech giant allegedly blocked pro-Kremlin channels on YouTube.

 Russia’s RBC state news agency reported that the penalty stemmed from an initial $1 million fine imposed four years ago when Google barred the pro-Moscow YouTube channels Tsargrad and RIA FAN.

Russian courts had warned at the time that the penalty would double daily until the fine was paid and the banned channels were reinstated. Google, however, shut down its Russian division in 2022 after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with the local subsidiary filing for bankruptcy, the New York Post said. The company also discontinued Google AdSense in Russia over the summer, cutting off monetization for local content creators.

Though Google’s services remain accessible to Russians, the legal standoff escalated in August when Moscow seized over $100 million from Google’s bankruptcy entity, channeling some funds to Tsargrad and other blocked channels to support Russia’s war efforts. Court documents revealed that Tsargrad, owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, received 1 billion roubles and pledged to fund Russia’s wartime activities.

Google has been contesting these fines abroad, including in Turkey, South Africa, and Serbia, while also remaining publicly unfazed. In its latest earnings report on October 29, Google stated it did not expect these legal disputes to have a “material adverse effect.” The news has similarly left Alphabet, Google’s parent company, unaffected, with its stock rising over 5% by October 30, the Post said.