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Russian TV Channels Suing Google for 20 Decillion Dollars: What’s the Beef About?

© AP Photo / Ng Han GuanGoogle logo. File photo
Google logo. File photo - Sputnik International, 1920, 31.10.2024
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17 Russian television channels’ compensatory demands toward Google have reached 2 undecillian rubles (a 2 followed by 36 zeros), equivalent to about 20 decillion dollars (or $20,560,840,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to be exact). Here's what they want from the American tech giant.
The channels’ beef with Google relates to the blocking of their YouTube accounts, with the case affecting federal television channels, including Channel One, Russia 1, Russia 24, the Defense Ministry’s Zvezda TV, as well as smaller channels, from Parliamentary Television and Moscow Media to TV-Center, NTV, 360 TV, the Orthodox Television Foundation, the National Sports Channel and the personal channel of Sputnik and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.
A Russian court previously ordered Google to restore media companies' channels, ruling that if this is not done in a nine-month period, a fine of 100,000 rubles ($1,030 US) would be slapped on the company daily, and double every week until Google complied, with no limit on the total fine.
Russian media first started a series of legal battles with Google in 2020, after YouTube blocked the accounts of Tsargrad TV and RIA Fan over alleged “sanctions legislation and trade rules”-related violations. Tsargrad took Google to court, with a judge ordering the company to unblock the account or face escalating fines.
In 2022 and the start of the conflict in Ukraine, YouTube blocked Sputnik, RT, NTV and Rossiya 24’s accounts, followed by others, prompting Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service to slap Google with 4 billion rubles ($41.1 million US) in fines.
In June of 2022, Google’s Russia-based entity filed for bankruptcy, citing debts in excess of 19 billion rubles and assets of only 3.5 billion rubles. A court declared the subsidiary bankrupt in late 2023.
In this Nov. 18, 2019, file photo, the logo of Google is displayed on a carpet at the entrance hall of Google France in Paris. - Sputnik International, 1920, 31.10.2024
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Kremlin on $20 Decillion Fine to Google: Such Figure Full of Symbolism

The affected Russian media channels have also taken Google to court in other countries to enforce Russian court decisions. In June 2024, the High Court of South Africa granted a Russian request to seize Google’s assets in that country. Google shot back in August with lawsuits in US and British courts against Russian media to try to block them from initiating further legal proceedings outside Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the issue on Thursday, suggesting that the 2 undecillian sum is “filled with symbolism,” and “demonstrate[s] the essence of the claim of our channels to Google.”

Fun fact: Google's name itself is a reference to an astronomically large figure - a googol, which is a 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Google parent company Alphabet confirmed in a Q2 2024 earnings report that it’s facing “ongoing” legal issues relating to Russia, assuring shareholders this would not significantly affect their business.
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