Ruh, astronomical penalty bomb on Google... "well over global GDP"

Russian media, including RBC, reported that Russia's fine on Google, the world's largest search engine, has risen to astronomical levels that exceed global GDP.

Citing sources on the 30th local time, RBC said the cumulative fine Google has to pay in Russia is two roubles, plus $200 in dollars, with one square representing the 32nd power of 10.

"This fine is more than the global GDP and GDP estimate of $100 trillion," the British daily Telegraph noted.

Google's blocking of the YouTube channel of Russian pro-government media Tsargrad and RIA in 2020 was the starting point.

Tsargrad and others sued to unblock it, while other pro-government media, including RT and Rossiya24, whose YouTube channels were blocked in 2022 as Russia launched a "special military operation" against Ukraine, also filed a lawsuit against Google.

In a related development, a Russian court ordered Google to restore the YouTube channel of Russian media, ruling that it will impose a fine of 100,000 rubles (about 1.42 million won) per day for non-compliance.

At that time, there was a clause that said fines doubled every week and there was no upper limit on the total amount, but over time, the cumulative fines increased to astronomical levels.

However, Google expects it will not be easy to actually collect the fine after it suspended its business after filing for bankruptcy of a local Russian corporation after a Russian court froze its main trading account in March 2022.