During the week of October 27th, 2024, Russian state media reported that Russia had fined Google a total of 2.5 decillion dollars. That is 25 followed by thirty-five zeros and is 15 times greater than the amount of money currently in the world. So why is Google being sued for this unfathomable amount? To understand, we’ll need to go back in time.
The problem started in 2021 when Google restricted access to Russian media on YouTube, but it escalated in 2022 with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That year, many Western companies sanctioned Russia by severing their business ties, including Google. Google’s Russian branch filed for bankruptcy and stopped offering their commercial services in the country. In addition, they failed to prohibit material critical of Russia related to the Russia-Ukraine war, which led to a 301 million dollar fine that has accumulated into 2.5 decillion dollars.
During a call, when asked about the lawsuit, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, emphasized that the number is “filled with symbolism” as Google shouldn’t be restricting the actions of Russian broadcasters on their platform. In response, Google, in their quarterly earnings, stated that the lawsuit will most likely not have a significant financial impact in the long run.
As the legal battle unfolds, it is unclear what will happen. While Russia certainly can’t force Google to pay 2.5 decillion dollars, they will still want some form of compensation to demonstrate the unjust actions of Google. The question is, how far is Russia willing to go?
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNl_nBg7aTM
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxvnwkl5kgo
Sources of Images:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_logo
