A court in Moscow has imposed a huge fine of 2 undecillion rubles ($2.5 decillion) on Google, due to the company’s alleged blocking of pro-Kremlin media content on YouTube.
The issue began in 2020 when YouTube suspended several Russian state-owned media channels for breaking sanctions. Google said it was following international sanctions rules when it took these actions.
Russian media companies, such as Zvezda, Channel One, and VGTRK, filed a lawsuit against Google, asking for their YouTube accounts to be restored. The court told Google to give them back access, warning that more fines would come if they didn’t.
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) also accused Google of unfair competition and fined them 2 billion rubles in February 2022. Google paid part of this fine, 1 billion rubles, to Tsargrad TV.
This big fine shows the growing conflict between Russia and Western tech companies in the digital world.
