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Russia fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

31 October 2024 18:35 (UTC +04:00)

Russia has fined Google for $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, APA reports citing CNN.

Google reportedly owes the Kremlin more than 2 undecillion rubles — a 2 followed by 36 zeroes — after refusing to pay fines that are now accruing for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube.

The virtually unpronounceable penalty amounts to $20 decillion — or around $20 billion trillion trillion. That dwarfs the size of the global economy.

At $110 trillion, according to International Monetary Fund figures, world gross domestic product looks modest in comparison. Google parent Alphabet, meanwhile, has a market value of around $2 trillion.

Russian state media TASS reported this week that a Russian court had earlier ordered Google to restore the YouTube channels — several of which have been blocked since 2022 — or else face mounting charges, with penalties doubling every week.

Asked about the lawsuit during a call with reporters Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that he “can’t even pronounce this figure right” but said that the eye-watering sum was “filled with symbolism.” Google “should not be restricting the actions of our broadcasters on its platform,” he added.