A Russian court has imposed a fine on Google for failing to reinstate YouTube accounts associated with Russian television channels. The penalty amounts to approximately $20.6 decillion—a sum vastly exceeding the global
A legal clash between Google and Russia concerning suspended YouTube accounts has resulted in a fine so astronomical it surpasses all the wealth in the world.
Ivan Morozov, a lawyer located in Moscow, informed the state-controlled TASS news agency that a Russian court mandated the tech firm to restore the accounts of Russian media on YouTube, which is owned by Google.
According to him, Google's failure to comply has caused the fine to consistently double over several years.
The lawyer noted that there is no limit on the accumulating total. Morozov, who did not quickly reply to Business Insider's inquiry, indicated that the overall amount has now reached an extraordinary 2 undecillion rubles — an almost incomprehensible sum.
Based on the current exchange rate, this fine corresponds to roughly $20.6 decillion. A decillion consists of a number followed by 33 zeros, making the fine approximate to $20,604,600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
It seems unlikely that Google could or would agree to pay such a sum, which RBK, a Russian business news outlet, reports is connected to legal claims from over a dozen Russian television channels regarding the suspended YouTube accounts.
As per court documents examined by Bloomberg in 2021, Google suspended the accounts to adhere to U.S. sanctions.
Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow specializing in Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, remarked to BI in a message that the fine's magnitude is “clearly insane” and “absurd.”
“He claimed that if Google gave Russia everything the world produced this year, every day since the universe began, it would only have covered around 3% of this fine,” Gould-Davies commented on X.
He compared it to “putting a dead person on trial”—a fitting analogy, given that Google currently has no active operations in Russia and minimal assets to claim.
In 2022, Google’s Russian legal entity, Google LLC, declared bankruptcy, and authorities froze its bank accounts, although free services continue to function in the country.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, appears unconcerned about potential impacts.
The company has frequently referenced these legal matters in its quarterly earnings reports. Business Insider identified the first mention in the Q1 of 2022.
In its Q3 2024 earnings report, released on Tuesday, Alphabet discussed “ongoing legal matters” involving Russia.
It referenced civil judgments that incorporate “compounding penalties” imposed “in relation to disputes regarding account terminations,” including individuals on sanctions lists.
“We do not think these ongoing legal matters will materially impact us,” the report stated — a view consistent with previous communications.
Google has not replied to Business Insider's request for