Google fined by Russian court for blocking Russian propaganda sites. The amount of 20 quintillion dollars exceeds the value of world GDP several times.
A Russian court has ordered Google to pay an unprecedented fine of twenty quintillion dollars, which is many times greater than the total gross domestic product of all countries in the world. This is due to the blocking of several Russian TV channels, including Tsargrad TV, which Google removed in 2020 due to international sanctions. The amount of the fine is constantly increasing, because according to the court decision, Google must pay a penalty for each day of the block, which doubles every 24 hours.
Google initially targeted only Tsargrad TV, a channel owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, but gradually began blocking other Russian stations as well, prompting a backlash from Russian authorities. In response to this stance, Russia has launched a series of lawsuits against Google and is demanding fines for blocking sixteen other channels as well. According to legal representatives, the sum for the increasing sanctions is now in the order of sextillion rubles.
In 2022, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Google shut down its Russian branch, but its services such as YouTube and the search engine continue to operate there. Around $100 million worth of assets from Google’s former Russian division have already been redistributed among blocked TV channels, including Tsargrad TV, as part of the ongoing sanctions.
Google is now fighting fines not only in Russia, but also in other countries, including South Africa, Turkey and Serbia. Nevertheless, the company claims that these legal disputes will not have a significant impact on its economic situation.
Source: pctuning.cz
