Written By Lisa Murimi
A Russian court has imposed an astronomical fine on Google, ordering the tech giant to pay a staggering two undecillion roubles—equivalent to $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in USD.
This unprecedented penalty, which is vastly higher than Google’s $2 trillion market valuation and even surpasses the entire world’s GDP of $110 trillion, stems from Google’s restriction of Russian state media channels on YouTube.
The fine’s scale, growing daily due to compounding penalties, has left Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitting he “cannot even pronounce this number” but urging Google’s management to “pay attention.”
The dispute traces back to 2020 but intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which prompted Western firms to exit the Russian market and led to retaliatory actions against Russian media, including their ban in Europe.
Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has repeatedly targeted Google, previously fining the company 21.1 billion roubles in 2022 for failing to restrict content on Ukraine.
Google has yet to respond publicly to this latest penalty, reflecting escalating tensions between Moscow and Western tech firms as Russia tightens control over information flow within its borders.