Russia has reportedly slapped Google with a fine worth much, much more than the entire world's GDP.
According to CNN, the tech company owes the Kremlin more than ₽2 undecillion – a two followed by 36 zeros – after it refused to pay fines for blocking pro-Russian accounts on YouTube.
The sizeable penalty is around NZ$34 decillion, or $34 billion trillion trillion – and it's constantly increasing, with the penalty mounting each week that goes by without it being paid.
In comparison to the fine, the world's entire GDP sits at around NZ$184 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund.
According to TASS, Russia's state-owned news agency, Google was fined after the court ordered it to restore YouTube channels that had been blocked since 2022.
During a call with reporters yesterday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admitted he "can't even pronounce this figure right".
He said the sum was "filled with symbolism" and said Google “should not be restricting the actions of our broadcasters on its platform”.
“In fact, this should be a reason for Google’s management to pay attention to this and fix the situation. This is the best that the company can do,” he said.
While Google has yet to respond to the fine itself, its parent company, Alphabet, included a section titled "legal matters" in its third-quarter earnings release.
“We have ongoing legal matters relating to Russia. For example, civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed upon us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties," it said.
“We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect.”
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