It’s unlikely Google will pay the fine: The company said in its third-quarter earnings report earlier this week it had “ongoing legal matters relating to Russia,” including compounding penalties that would not have a “material adverse effect.” The 37-digit fine is “full of symbolism,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly said Thursday, and “might become a reason for Google management to pay attention to what is going on and remedy the situation.”
$110 trillion. That’s the estimated value of the world’s combined economy, according to the International Monetary Fund, equaling a small fraction of Google’s fine. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has a market valuation of $2.1 trillion as of Thursday’s share price.
YouTube became inaccessible to thousands of users in Russia on Aug. 8, though it’s not immediately clear what caused the platform to be blocked, according to Tass. Weeks earlier, Russian lawmakers reportedly said upload speeds to YouTube in Russia would decrease by 70% because the platform “violates and ignores the law with impunity.”
A crackdown on Russian media outlets has intensified in recent years, as social media platforms and U.S. officials accuse the outlets of disinformation campaigns—particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine, which was preceded by baseless claims about Ukrainians. The Biden administration accused Russia of election meddling last month through an alleged disinformation campaign that involved state-run outlets ANO Dialog and RT, formerly known as Russia Today. Source:
Forbes