Russia Seeks Mon colossal Amount from Google in Court Demand
Russia Seeks Mon colossal Amount from Google in Court Demand
A Russian judicial body has mandated tech giant Google to hand over an astronomical sum of money to over a dozen television stations, whose programming Google had stopped from appearing on YouTube. This order to pay dates back to 2020, when Russian media outlets Tsargrad TV and RIA FAN took Google to court for restricting their content, as reported by Novaya Gazeta. Since then, the fine has kept climbing, with 15 other channels, including those backed by the Kremlin, winning their respective lawsuits against Google. The total fine as of Tuesday is an astounding 2 sextillion rubles (which is equivalent to about 2 septillion US dollars, using the metric of 1 followed by 36 zeroes).
Given the length of time Google has been ignoring the fine, it's highly unlikely they'll start paying now, especially considering the ridiculous sum involved. Moreover, it's equally impossible for Google to cover such a substantial bill, considering their financial standing. As the fourth-largest company globally, Google's parent company, Alphabet, has a market capitalization of just $2 trillion.
RBC-Ukraine reported that the court fine doubles every week Google fails to pay. At that rate, it'll take around 219 weeks before Google owes one googol (1 followed by 100 zeroes) in rubles.
Google has yet to respond to a request for comment.
While this current fine might seem ludicrous, the Russian TV stations' lawsuits against Google have had real-world consequences for the tech giant. Google's subsidiary declared bankruptcy in 2022 following court orders to seize more than $100 million from its Russian accounts. Google has retaliated by countersuing several Russian outlets to protect its assets in other countries like South Africa, Turkey, Serbia, and Kyrgyzstan.
The YouTube ban on Tsargrad TV in 2020 occurred after the United States imposed sanctions against its owner, Konstantin Malofeyev, a prominent Russian oligarch, who the Department of Justice alleged played a crucial role in Russia's 2014 and 2022 invasions of Ukraine. RIA FAN was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, as per Novaya Gazeta, who was the co-founder of the mercenary Wagner Group and initially a strong supporter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but later led a mutiny against him in 2021, which resulted in a plane crash involving Prigozhin and nine others.
Since then, YouTube has blocked hundreds of channels affiliated with Russia-owned news outlets like RT to comply with U.S. sanctions. The platform has also stated that some Russian channels have been blocked due to their publication of content that "trivializes or destroys the gravity of well-documented violent events," referring to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In the future, Google might face even larger fines if they continue to ignore the court orders, given that the fine doubles every week they are in arrears. Nevertheless, the exorbitant fine and Google's financial standing raise questions about the feasibility of Google covering such a substantial bill, given that their parent company, Alphabet, has a market capitalization of only $2 trillion.