Russia is suing Google for $20.5 decillion

Question

Russia is allegedly suing Google an amount of money higher than the world's entire GDP for blocking Kremlin propaganda. I couldn't find any credible sources confirming this when I searched it.

Comments

Russia is indeed suing Google for an absurd approximately 20 decillion. After research, it seems unclear as to what Russia's motive is for its attack on Google. Rather than anything related to Kremlin propaganda, They may be upset about Google's noncooperation with them in general. Russia's frustration may stem from Google’s restriction on Russian media, including YouTube. 20 decillion is an unpayable fine either way.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/30/world-news/russia-fines-google-20-5-decillion-more-than-the-entire-worlds-gdp/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html

Answer 1

This is a fact, though the reasoning is not exactly accurate. The information I found online from many credible sources including the ones I linked below concur that Russia is suing Google for approximately $20 decillion, many different sources report a slightly different number. However, the reasons surrounding this suing are for the general blocking of state-wide media through mediums such as YouTube, not specifically just propaganda. Even if some of those state-wide media outlets did promote some propaganda, not all can be said to have done so as a blanket statement.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/30/world-news/russia-fines-google-20-5-decillion-more-than-the-entire-worlds-gdp/

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/russia-google-fine-20-decillion-mmnhn9dl7

Comments

This is an effective and straight-forward fact check, well done. At this moment, there is not much known about this legal case as it is remarkably fresh. More explanatory & detailed information will likely surface in the following weeks or months, but this is currently the best fact check you can make with the present information.

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This is a very good, simple fact check. I appreciate the direct answer to if the statement is true. I also appreciate how you used multiple reliable sources to prove your sentiment. However, I would have liked to see more detail regarding the specifics of the lawsuit settlement. For example, It is not mentioned that the settlement was originally 100k rubles that doubles every day it is not payed and that is what led to it accumulating to such a high number,

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This was a great fact-check. I loved the simplicity of it and the sources used are excellent. Including more detail as on how this amount was reached would make this already strong argument stronger.

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Your analysis focuses well on the main idea of the claim. Though some numbers may be different, Russia's fines on google are true but unreasonable considering the media sources removed were unreliable.

Answer 2

This claim is a fact, and according to the telegraph, the reasoning behind the fine was due to "Moscow seized more than $100 million from Google’s bankruptcy entity to help fund the war in Ukraine". That had sparked a larger issue due to the direct correlation to both youtube and Russia. The claim that it was because of the blocking of  Kremlin propaganda seems to be false, as that was claimed to be the start of the fines, with a 1 million fine daily since that incident to now. 

https://nypost.com/2024/10/30/world-news/russia-fines-google-20-5-decillion-more-than-the-entire-worlds-gdp/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/30/russian-court-fine-google-more-world-gdp/

Comments

This is a good point to bring up. Though Google will likely never pay the absurd fines that Russia gave them, Russia has actually siezed a lot of money from google that has gone to the War efforts against Ukraine.

Answer 3

From the research that I have compiled, the claim seems to be true. Google and Russia have previously had controversial relationships with Google removing a lot of Russian Pro-Kremlin media channels off of their platforms for their unreliable and misleading information pushed on their media channels. For this reason, Google has started to pull away resources from Russia but many of their platforms, like their search engine, are still available. Being that Russia did not like Google hiding their media sources from other Google Users, Russia fined Google more than the worth of the Global GDP in fined that will only increase with time. It isnt likely these will ever get paid though.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/russian-court-fines-google-20-decillion-for-blocking-pro-kremlin-media-outlets-fine-is-worth-more-than-the-worlds-gdp/articleshow/114819803.cms?from=mdr

Comments

This is a solid fact check with a good source and I think you took a clear stance. I do wonder if you could add more sources to triangulate your data and improve your credibility.

Answer 4

From the sources available, I believe this claim to be true. While I do believe the number to be slightly exaggerated, the amount Russia has fined Google is still laughable. The fine is estimated to be 20 undecillion rubles which is about 2.5 decillion dollars as claimed by Fortune, who estimate it would take Google 33.8 quintillion years to pay off the fine. This fine is also astronomical in size compared to the world's GDP which stands at 105 trillion dollars. As for the reason for the fine, CNN points to the Russian invasion of Ukraine to be a large reason for Google's withdrawal of their Russian Branch. Russian Politician's claim that the company can't block media from their broadcasters.

 Fortune

CNN

Answer 5

The claim Russia is Suing Google for 20.5 decillion is shown in the article by Microsoft start, some of the facts are unclear or not as well established but after finding this claim in many big and trustworthy publishers linked below, the claim that Russia is suing google for 20 decillion dollars all the articles have a slight change in the exact amount but it is around 20 decillion dollars. All articles are from recent publish dates and this is a very reliable and true claim. 

https://nypost.com/2024/10/30/world-news/russia-fines-google-20-5-decillion-more-than-the-entire-worlds-gdp/

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/technology-uk/article/russia-google-fine-20-decillion-mmnhn9dl7

Answer 6

Russia is, in fact, seeking a sum of roughly 20 decillion from Google. The reasoning for this lawsuit, however, is not entirely clear. Most likely, Russia's motives are inspired by Google's relatively consistent restriction of Russian producers, especially on platforms like YouTube.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html

Answer 7

Yes, Russia is suing Google for $20 decillion. For context that is $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. The lawsuit started in 2020, and escalated in 2022 when YouTube, owned by Google, banned 17 accounts portraying Russian media coverage of the war in Ukraine, per Forbes. NBC news outlines the suit; $1,000 a day for nine months with the fine doubling for every week of inaction. Google has recently acknowledged the pressure from Russian authorities, but as the fine is around 1.9 x 10^15 times larger than the global economy, it is more likely intended as a political statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-fines-google-20-decillion-world-gdp-youtube-kremlin-war-ukraine-rcna178172

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/10/31/russia-fines-google-20-decillion-many-times-larger-than-global-gdp-for-blocking-state-media-channels-heres-what-to-know/

Answer 8

Claim: Russia is suing Google for $20.5 Decillion

Fact check: The claim is true, although the reasoning behind it isn’t fully accurate. Google and Russia have had some controversy in the past, which has brought this lawsuit to light. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Google withdrew its Russian branch and began to block certain pro-Kremlin media outlets on websites like YouTube. The likelihood that any fines will ever get paid is very low, considering $20.5 Decillion is more than the entire world's GDP. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-fines-google-205-decillion-more-than-the-entire-world-s-gdp-for-allegedly-blocking-kremlin-propaganda/ar-AA1tdwdr?ocid=BingNewsSerp

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html

Answer 9

The main claim is true. Many news sites including nbc, forbes, fox business are all reporting  around the same numbers, 20 decillion rubles (i'm assuming the number varies slightly between sources because of converting the currency between usd and rubles). From the sources I was looking at it seems like google and the Russian media have had a history of conflict that has led to this number being so high. A Russian court is fining google from removing Russian tv programs and media outlets from posting on Youtube. 17 Russian tv channels that were removed by youtube have reportedly filed for lawsuits against Google in Russian courts. Forbes links to a Youtube insider Twitter post made in 2022 where they said they started blocking RT & Sputnik’s YouTube channels in Europe for spreading misinformation about the Ukraine invasion. 
Forbes

NBC News

https://x.com/YouTubeInsider/status/1498772480034365440

Answer 10

This claim is true. After looking closer Russia is suing Google. They are also suing Google for such a high amount of money. The source I looked at to back my claim is CNN. I know CNN is typically a pretty trusted resource. Additionally when doing a search I saw a few other people reporting on this and they also said the same thing.

Article Used:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/tech/google-fines-russia/index.html