A Russian court has imposed an unprecedented fine of 20 decillion dollars on tech giant Google, citing the company’s YouTube platform’s restriction of several pro-Russian channels. This astronomical amount, equating to 20 billion trillion trillion dollars, far surpasses all global monetary assets and vastly exceeds the market value of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., which stands at only 2 trillion dollars.
According to reports, this fine—written as a “2” followed by 33 zeros—has been deemed largely symbolic, intended to pressure YouTube into resolving ongoing disputes with Russian authorities. Kremlin officials stated the fine reflects the seriousness of the issue but also serves as a diplomatic message.
In 2022, Moscow’s Arbitration Court ordered YouTube to unblock 17 channels, mandating a daily fine of $1,028 until compliance. The ongoing fines have now accumulated to an astronomical 20 decillion dollars. Russian media has indicated that if Google fails to settle the fine within nine months, additional daily fines of 100,000 rubles will continue to accrue.
