Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL), has accumulated fines totaling approximately 2 undecillion rubles ($2.5 decillion) in Russia for refusing to restore pro-Kremlin and state-run media accounts on YouTube, according to a recent report by RBC news.
The astronomical sum of 2 undecillion rubles (an undecillion being a number equal to 1 followed by 36 zeros), stems from daily penalties that began at 100,000 rubles in 2020 and have doubled weekly.
The fines come from successful lawsuits by pro-government outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN after their YouTube channels were blocked. Currently, 17 Russian TV channels have filed legal claims against Google, including state-run Channel One, military-affiliated Zvezda broadcaster, and representatives of RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
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This development comes amid growing concerns about Russians’ access to YouTube, which has been the last major Western social platform freely available in the country. Recent reports indicate that Russian users are experiencing significant service degradation, with videos failing to load and high-resolution content becoming unavailable across most desktop browsers.
YouTube’s significance in Russia cannot be overstated, with approximately 95 million Russians—roughly 80% of the population—using the platform monthly, according to a September report from The Washington Post. The platform ranks as the fourth most visited online destination in the country, following Google, Yandex, and WhatsApp.Â
Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and was officially declared bankrupt last fall, following the company’s decision to halt advertising in Russia to comply with Western sanctions over the Ukraine war. While Google has largely withdrawn from Russia, it maintained basic YouTube and Gmail services, though without advertising and monetization features.
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The fine, which vastly exceeds Google parent company Alphabet’s 2023 revenue of $307 billion, is unlikely to be paid.
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