Russian telecom companies are demanding 2 undecillion rubles from Google. What’s behind such an astronomical figure?

The total claims from 17 Russian TV channels against Google due to the blocking of accounts on YouTube have reached 2 undecillion rubles (a unit with 36 zeros). This figure doubles every week.

This is reported by RBK-Ukraine citing the Russian publication RBK.

Previously, a Russian court demanded that Google restore access for propaganda channels to the YouTube platform, and until this is done, the penalty grows daily.

During the latest court session held on October 28, the judge mentioned that they are considering "a case with many, many zeros."

The affected parties in the case include the channels "Zvezda," "Channel One," VGTRK (the channels "Russia 1," "Russia 24," and others), "Parliamentary Television," "Moscow Media," "TV Center," NTV, "GPM Entertainment Television," "Public Television of Russia," "Channel 360," "TRK Saint Petersburg," "Orthodox Television Fund," "National Sports Channel," "Technological Company Center," and the YouTube channel of Margarita Simonyan.

If the court's decision is not complied with within nine months, a fine of 100,000 rubles will be charged for each day of non-compliance. The amount doubles every week until the decision is fulfilled, with no limit on the total amount.

Another participant in the process mentioned that in September, the total amount of the fine was nearly 13 decillion (a unit with 33 zeros).

It is worth noting that Russian authorities have begun throttling traffic on YouTube to limit access to information for residents of the Russian Federation. Reports suggest that the Kremlin is likely to completely block YouTube in 2024.