Google and Youtube Are Part of the West’s Media War: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin. X/ @PanamericanaTV
December 19, 2024 Hour: 2:12 pm
They must not exploit or abuse the network to serve the goals of their governments, the Russian leader stressed.
On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin defended the restrictions imposed by Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, on YouTube and Google.
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“YouTube and Google must respect our laws, distance themselves from online scams, and, in particular, must not exploit or abuse the network to serve the goals of their governments,” he stated.
Putin pointed out that people turn to search engines for information about Russian music and culture, but instead, “content appears that has no relation to culture or music and is propaganda for certain political platforms.” He also accused Western platforms of practically erasing the names of Russian artists, bloggers, and politicians.
“All of this is a violation of Russian laws. Therefore, they must choose: either they respect our laws, which might subject them to certain limitations in their own countries, or they operate exclusively there. But if they want to work here, they must comply with Russian laws,” he emphasized.
Due to Western sanctions, Google has effectively stopped funding its subsidiaries in Russia and providing them with the necessary equipment for proper operations. “In doing so, it created additional problems for itself,” Putin pointed out.
Russia periodically fines major Western tech companies for various violations of its laws, such as refusing to remove false information from their servers or disseminating prohibited content, including child pornography, instructions for making explosives, or calls for terrorism.
For these reasons, since 2022, Russian authorities have blocked the services of Twitter (now X) and Facebook, a company that has been designated as “extremist.” Since early December, YouTube traffic has dropped by 50%, marking the second-largest decline since the sharp 70% reduction in August.
Experts in geopolitics and mass media believe that the media aggression against Russia aims to cover up the aggressiveness of the U.S. and NATO and to spread misinformation about the goals of the special military operation in the Donbas, which is intended to combat Ukrainian Nazism.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – Sputnik
