The sanction originated years ago, when Google blocked the “Tsargrad” channel YouTube in response to US sanctions against its Russian owner, under restrictions since 2014.
In 2021, a Russian court ordered Google restore the blocked accounts, warning that failure to do so would impose a progressive fine.
The conflict escalated after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Google closed all Russian state channels YouTubeincluding Sputnik, NTV, Russia 24 y Starthe latter owned by the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
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This measure intensified the position of Russiawhich resorted to an administrative sanction under article 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, requiring the technology giant based in Mountain View, California (USA), to reactivate the channels or face increasing fines.
Initially, the fine amounted to 100,000 rubles per day (about 950 euros), but the penalty grew exponentially until it reached USD 20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, which in simple terms would be USD 20 decillions (approximately 1.9 decillions). of euros), a figure that includes 33 zeros.
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To measure this figure, it is estimated that global GDP, according to the World Bank, is around 100 trillion dollars, which makes this fine an absolute record.
Googlefor its part, issued specific comments about the sanction, noting in its recent financial reports: “We have ongoing legal matters related to Russia. Civil judgments including fines were imposed on us in connection with disputes over account terminations, including those of sanctioned parties. “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect” on the company.
This confrontation between Google and the Government of Russia marks a milestone in the tensions between large technology corporations and states, in a conflict where politics, economics and technology are intertwined in a large-scale dispute.
