Two “undecillion” rubles is the amount of the fine imposed on Google in Russia. The search giant was found guilty of violating a court order from the summer of 2024 requiring it to restore the YouTube accounts of several companies in the country, including Zvezda, Channel One and the National Society of Radio and Television of Russia, reveals the Kommersant economic medium.
A fine equivalent to 20 billion dollars (or 36 zero), which is probably a world record, but which reflects the consequences of the court order, which required Google to pay 100,000 rubles per day for non-compliance with the court decision. an amount doubled every week since then.
A political sanction
While Google will not pay the fine, it is more to hit the table: “Russian courts deliberately made such a provocative and unprecedented decision to position themselves politically in relation to Internet platforms.” “Fyodor Kravchenko of the Media Bar Association told Kommersant.
Especially because if Google finally wanted to pay the fine, the company would find itself in difficulties due to US sanctions, which have prevented companies in the country from doing business with the country since the invasion of Ukraine.
When the court order was imposed in February 2022, Google was accused of using its dominant position to censor Russian channels on YouTube. However, the platform’s rules provide for the possibility of Google getting rid of a channel that has become problematic or that does not comply with its terms of use.
But for Sergei Ermolenko of the law firm Orlova/Emorlenko, if the possibility of a dominant position can be real, the sanction imposed on October 29 by the Russian courts is more political and therefore discredits these accusations. Therefore, he advocates a change in the platform’s rules, instead of a financial penalty.
For its part, Google hopes to protect itself from legal action in the case of Russian-speaking channels by establishing case law around the world. In particular, he argued that the removed channels were carrying out propaganda.
Source: BFM TV
