As lawyers often point out, a law doesn’t have to make sense or be enforceable to be written into legal codes. A vivid example of this is the recent ruling by a Russian court, which has imposed a mind-boggling fine of 2 undecillion rubles on Google—equivalent to approximately $20 trillion.
According to The Register, this figure is beyond ludicrous; it’s roughly 200 trillion times greater than the estimated total of all “liquid” monetary value in circulation worldwide. This fine arises from the removal of 17 Russian TV channels from YouTube, a decision rooted in US sanctions enacted in 2020 and further intensified following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The fines begin at 100,000 rubles per day for each restricted channel and double every week that Google remains non-compliant, with no upper limit established. This clearly creates a situation that could escalate dramatically—something even a child could understand.
Reports from RBC.ru, translated via machine translation, indicate that Google’s Russian subsidiary has been virtually bankrupt since 2022. Although the company has paid billions of rubles in fines for similar actions, it appears that extracting any significant value from its assets in Russia is almost impossible due to overwhelming debt.
In a further step to distance itself from Russian operations, Google disabled AdSense accounts in August, effectively sidelining its primary business in the country. While services like Google Search and YouTube are still available to Russian users, they are experiencing severe slowdowns as Google’s regional infrastructure deteriorates. Local competitors, notably Yandex, are eager to take advantage of this void.
The initial content restrictions were certainly a reaction to US sanctions and an effort to curb the influence of Russian state media. However, Russia is complicating the environment for foreign businesses even more. A recent law passed in March prohibits online advertising from “foreign agents,” which includes virtually any content deemed “anti-Kremlin” by the government, further isolating foreign companies operating in the region.