Google would have to find more money that exists on Earth as Russia is seeking an astronomical sum from Google, one of the world’s tech giants, over unpaid fines for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube.
Russia claims that Google currently owes more than 2 undecillion rubles — a 2 followed by 36 zeros. This staggering amount, approximately $20 decillion or $20 billion trillion trillion, dwarfs the entire global economy.
And the number is still growing as we speak...
More than the planet's GDP
Despite being one of the world's wealthiest companies, that is considerably more than the $2 trillion Google is worth.
In fact, it is far greater than the world's total GDP, which is estimated by the international monetary fund to be $110 trillion.
The fine has reached such a gargantuan level because - as state news agency Tass has highlighted - it is rapidly increasing all the time.
Russian state media TASS reported this week that a Russian court had previously ordered Google to restore the blocked YouTube channels — some of which have been restricted since 2022 — or face escalating penalties, which are doubling weekly.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the lawsuit, acknowledged the immense figure, admitting it was “impossible to even pronounce” but emphasized its “symbolic” nature.
He added that Russia did this not expecting Google to pay the full amount, but the move was designed to spur Google into lifting restrictions on Russian Youtube channels.
"Google should not restrict the actions of our broadcasters, but it does. This should be a reason for Google's management to pay attention. This and correct the situation." Peskov said.
Since launching its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, Russia has levied huge fines on social media companies accused of hosting Kremlin-critical or pro-Ukraine content.
Russian courts have repeatedly fined Youtube's owners, Google, in an attempt to force the tech company into compliance, with the legal costs multiplying each day it fails to carry out Moscow's demands.
While Youtube is still available in Russia, but authorities have repeatedly threatened to take it offline over its bans on state-owned Russian content.
Google acknowledges this insanity
And it seems that Google is not totally ignoring this threat.
In its latest quarterly report titled "Legal Matters," Alphabet said "we have ongoing legal matters relating to Russia. For example, civil judgements that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties."
But the company noted that these disputes won't have “material adverse effect” on its earnings.
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