The amount of the fine exceeds the world's gross domestic product.
Russia fined the world's largest technology company Google for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube.
CNN reports this.
Google allegedly owes the Kremlin over 2 undecillion rubles – that’s 2 with 36 zeros – after refusing to pay fines that continue to accumulate due to the blocking of pro-Russian channels on YouTube.
The incredible amount of the fine is equal to 20 decillion dollars, or approximately 20 billion trillion trillion dollars, which is more than the size of the world economy.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the world’s gross domestic product is 110 trillion dollars, which seems modest compared to the amount of the fine. It's worth noting that Google's parent company Alphabet is worth about $2 trillion.
Russian state news agency TASS reported this week that a Russian court had previously ordered Google to restore its YouTube channels — many of which had been blocked since 2022 — or face mounting weekly fines.
When asked about the lawsuit during a call with reporters on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that he “can't pronounce the number correctly.” The speaker noted that this staggering sum is “filled with symbolism.”
According to Peskov, Google “should not restrict the activities of Russian broadcasters on its platform.”
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