'0' Only 36 Times... Russia Imposes Astronomical Fine of '2 Billion Rubles' on Google

"Fines Exceeding Global GDP"

On the 30th (local time), British daily The Telegraph and others reported that the fines imposed by Russia on the US tech giant Google have reached an astronomical level exceeding the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to foreign media reports, the cumulative fines Google must pay to Russia amount to 2 gan (1 gan is 10 to the power of 36) rubles. Converted to dollars, this is 200 gu (1 gu is 10 to the power of 32) dollars. There are 36 zeros in rubles and 34 zeros in dollars.

The Telegraph said, "This fine exceeds the estimated world GDP of 100 trillion dollars."

This began when Google blocked YouTube channels of pro-Russian government media. In 2020, Google blocked the YouTube channels of Tsargrad and RIA Novosti, which then filed lawsuits demanding the unblock.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many other pro-government media YouTube channels such as RT and Rossiya 24 were also blocked. These media outlets also filed lawsuits against Google. According to Russian media RBC, a total of 17 Russian media outlets have sued Google.

The Russian court ordered Google to restore the YouTube channels of Russian media and stated that if it fails to comply, a fine of 100,000 rubles per day would be imposed. The ruling included a clause that the fine would double every week with no total cap. This is why Google's fines have ballooned to astronomical levels.

However, it is expected to be difficult to actually collect the fines. In March 2022, when the Russian court froze Google's main transaction account, Google filed for bankruptcy of its local subsidiary and ceased operations in Russia. Nigel Gould-Davies, senior researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said that since Google no longer operates in Russia, this is like putting a dead person on trial.

Despite the astronomical amount, Google stated in its recent earnings report that it "does not believe the ongoing legal issues will have a material adverse effect."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.