A Russian court fined technology giant Google $20 trillion (33 zeros after 20) for blocking content from a Russian media station.
The value of the fine imposed by the Russian court is billions of trillions of dollars more than the GDP of the world (one thousand trillion dollars).
The court’s determination of the amount follows a four-year trial that began as a result of US sanctions imposed in 2020 on the Russian nationalist channel Zargrad.
According to local media, the list of channels facing bans has grown since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and now 17 stations (including Putin’s Defense Ministry TV channel) are going to sue Google.
Lawyer Ivan Morozov told state media Tass that Google had been summoned in a Russian court under Article 13.41 for removing the channel from YouTube. The court ordered the company to restore these channels.
The court imposed a daily fine of $1,025 on the platform, which will double every week. After which Google will face a very unusual payment.
It should be noted that Google is inactive in Russia from 2022. The company says Russian authorities have frozen its bank accounts and its branches in Russia have gone bankrupt.
The company had more than 200 staff in Russia, some of whom were transferred and others were laid off.
