Russian court fines Google $2 trillion • The Register

A Russian court has ruled that Google owes Russian media outlets around $20 billion in fines for blocking their content, and the fines could be even higher.

To put that in perspective, the World Bank estimates global GDP at around $100 trillion, which is small compared to the likely fine. Google would therefore have to find more money than there is on Earth to pay Moscow – but it fell just short of that mark on Tuesday as the company posted quarterly revenue of $88 billion.

The bizarre amount was calculated following a four-year legal process that began after YouTube banned the ultranationalist Russian broadcaster Tsargrad in 2020 in response to US sanctions imposed on its owner. After Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to local media, more channels were added to the banned list and 17 channels are now suing the chocolate factory, including Zvezda (a TV channel owned by Putin's Defense Ministry).

“Google was sentenced by a Russian court to administrative liability under Article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for the removal of channels on the YouTube platform. The court ordered that the company must restore these channels,” lawyer Ivan Morozov told state media outlet TASS.

The court imposed a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,025) per day, with the total fine doubling each week. Because of compound interest (Einstein's eighth wonder of the world), Google now has to pay an insane amount, or what the judge described on Monday as “a case where there are lots and lots of zeros.”

There's not much chance of bankrupting Alphabet over this issue. Google in Russia has been inactive since 2022 after the search giant effectively withdrew from the country following Putin's special military operation. Google says Russian authorities have seized its bank accounts and the subsidiary is effectively bankrupt. The advertising distributor had over 200 employees in Russia and some were transferred and others were laid off.

The battle is now underway in courts around the world as Russia attempts to seize Google's assets, but to no avail. The chocolate factory seems to be quite confident about this.

“We have ongoing legal matters related to Russia. For example, we have been subject to civil judgments containing penalties in connection with account termination disputes, including those of sanctioned parties,” Alphabet reported in its most recent earnings statement [PDF].

“We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse impact.”

Google did not comment on the fine at the time of publication. ®