Internet giant Google has received a large fine from a Russian court after blocking content from the nation’s state media networks on its video publishing platform, YouTube.
According to the Russian newspaper RBK, the total amount of lawsuits against Google has reached two eleven billion rubles (313 million dollars or 313,871,979,999,999,962,932,929,332,510,720) – an amount higher than all the money in the world put together.
In the United States, an undecillion is a one followed by 36 zeros, while in Great Britain it is a one followed by 66 zeros.
That amount is far greater than the net worth of Google itself, which is currently worth US$2.1 trillion ($3.2 trillion), and greater than all the money in the world combined.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that the huge fines imposed by Russia on Google were largely symbolic and designed to pressure the internet giant into lifting restrictions on Russian YouTube channels.
“I can’t even pronounce this number, but it is more likely that it is imbued with symbolism,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.
“Google should not limit the actions of our broadcasters, but it does. This should be a reason for Google management to pay attention to this and correct the situation,” he said.
Since launching its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has imposed large fines on social media companies accused of hosting content critical of the Kremlin or pro-Ukraine.
YouTube is still available in Russia, but authorities have repeatedly threatened to take it offline due to a ban on state-owned Russian content.
Russian courts have repeatedly fined YouTube owner Google in a bid to force the tech giant to comply, with legal fees mounting every day it fails to meet demands.