Kremlin spokesman ‘could not read’ the amount of Google fine

“Google shouldn’t restrict Russian media channels on their platform, but they do it anyway. The best thing Google management can do is pay attention to the current situation and fix it,” found Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered the press today, when asked about the fine that the Russian court imposed on the US-based technology corporation.

Previously, Russian court judges decided to fine Google 20 billion billion billion rubles (about 20.6 million billion billion billion USD), because this technology group had blocked pro-Russian accounts on the YouTube platform all the time. many years. The ruling was made in the case of 17 Russian TV channels suing Google four years ago.

“Even though it’s a specific number, I can’t even read it. However, this is just a symbolic fine,” Mr. Peskov added.

The fine with Google is higher than the combined GDP of the entire world, which is 100 trillion USD. The revenue that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported in 2023 was more than $307 billion.

YouTube, owned by Google, has blocked many Russian media channels since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Moscow authorities responded with fines, but did not block Google.

Among the 17 Russian media channels suing Google are state-run Channel One, Russian military-affiliated TV station Zvezda and a company representing RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

Google’s Russian subsidiary declared bankruptcy in 2023. Google also stopped advertising in Russia following Western sanctions.