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- Russia fined Google an astronomical amount — $20.6 decillion — over suspended YouTube accounts.
- The Kremlin commented on Thursday, seeming to acknowledge the figure was not realistic.
- Its spokesman said he hoped it would prompt Google to respond. Alphabet has mostly ignored the case so far.
An enormous fine levied by a Russian court on Google caught the attention of the Kremlin — which hopes Google will notice in turn.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, commented on the sum on Thursday.
It came after a court demanded payment equivalent of $20.6 decillion — an almost incomprehensible figure that exceeds the world’s GDP.
The sum came from a penalty for suspending the YouTube accounts of various Russian outlets.
It has been regularly doubling for years, with no limit, leading it into realms of the absurd, which Peskov seemed to acknowledge.
“Although it is a specific amount, I cannot even pronounce this number, it is rather filled with symbolism,” said Peskov in response to a question from NBC News.
“The company should not restrict our broadcasters on their platform,” he said.
“This should be a reason for the Google leadership to pay attention to this and improve the situation.”
That likelihood seemed slim. Google has not commented on the fine directly, including when asked by Business Insider.
But it has regularly referred to “compounding penalties” out of Russia in market updates, saying it didn’t expect much to happen as a result.
“We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect,” Alphabet said in its third-quarter earnings report, released Tuesday.
The company had used similar language in updates going back several years.
In 2022, Google’s Russian legal arm, Google LLC, filed for bankruptcy, and authorities seized its bank accounts. Little is left in Russia for its legal system to pursue.
