Google has been fined about two non-golden rubles, or $2.50, by a court for refusing to restore the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets, according to a Moscow Times report. RBC News The website’s staggering sum, which exceeds the World Bank’s estimate of global GDP ($100 trillion), was calculated after a four-year legal battle that began when Google-owned YouTube banned ultra-nationalist Russian channel Tsargrad in response to US sanctions. against its owner
Lawyer Ivan Morozov told state media that “Google was called by a Russian court to administrative responsibility under Article 13.41 of the Administrative Offenses Code for removing channels on the YouTube platform. The court ordered the company to restore the channels.” ordered,” lawyer Ivan Morozov told state media. TASS.
The order states that if the fine is not paid within nine months, it will be doubled every day thereafter. Morozov added that there is no limit to this number and that Google can only return to the Russian market if it complies with court orders.
An indecline is a one followed by 36 zeros. Google’s parent company Alphabet reported revenues of more than $307 billion in 2023, suggesting the tech giant was unlikely to cough up such astronomical amounts.
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Google’s answer
The fine imposed on Google comes on the back of three countersuits filed against the tech behemoth against Russian media outlets in August. All three lawsuits called a Russian court ruling, which sought to financially fine Google and its affiliates for non-compliance, “unreasonable.”
Notably, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2020, Google announced that it was suspending its monetization program for Russian state-funded media that supported Moscow in the Russia-Ukraine war. exploited and rejected the character of A Reuters report claims that Google has blocked more than 1,000 YouTube channels following its content policies regarding war.