RBC reports that a Russian court has fined Google …. a helluva lot of money (2 undecillion rubles, which converts to US$20.5 decillion). But do the plaintiffs have any chance of actually collecting it?
The total amount of claims from 17 Russian TV channels to Google has reached 2 undecillion rubles, a source familiar with the dispute told RBC. An undecillion is one followed by 36 zeros.
During the next court hearing, which took place on Monday, October 28, the judge mentioned that he was considering “a case in which there are many, many zeros.”
The Russian court imposed the said fine on Google because the company failed to comply with the requirement to restore Russian media accounts on YouTube (the video hosting service is owned by Google). The third-party victims in the case are the TV channels Zvezda, Channel One, VGTRK (TV channels Russia 1, Russia 24, etc.), Parliamentary Television, Moscow Media, TV Center, NTV, GPM Entertainment Television, Public Television of Russia, TV Channel 360, TRK Petersburg, Orthodox Television Foundation, National Sports TV Channel, Technological Company Center, as well as IP Simonyan M.S., representing the YouTube channel of TV presenter Margarita Simonyan.
Google declared bankruptcy in 2022 after failing to comply with Russia’s demands after Russian invaded Ukraine. Unable to collect the judgment in Russia, the Russian media outlets are seeking court judgments in other countries. Google has fought back and sought declaratory judgments in other countries to block the media outlets’ attempts.
Read more at RBC.ru.