Russia Responds to Media Blackout by Slowing Down Youtube

A concert against censorship of Russian artists on YouTube in front of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, July 20, 2024. Photo: X/ @Barong369

July 25, 2024 Hour: 3:08 pm

Last week, Roskomnadzor demanded that Google unblock over 200 Russian channels on YouTube.

On Thursday, Alexander Khinshtein, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Information Policy, announced that Russia will slow down YouTube’s speed by 70 percent on desktop computers in response to the blocking of Russian channels.

“Before the end of this week, the download speed of YouTube on desktop computers could be reduced by 40 percent. By the weekend, the reduction will be 70 percent,” he said, specifying that the measure will not affect mobile communications.

“The degradation of YouTube is a measure we have been forced to take. It is not a measure directed against Russian users but against the administration of this foreign resource, which continues to believe it can violate and ignore our laws with impunity,” Khinshtein added.

“YouTube will clearly see that the State has moved from words to concrete actions,” the Russian legislator said, noting that the platform removes the channels of Russian bloggers, journalists, artists, and personalities whose positions differ from the Western viewpoint.

A Shaman protest/rally took place in front of the US Embassy in #Moscow with the participation of about 1000ppl. The Russian flag was projected onto the American Embassy building.The rally is against censorship on social networks & blocking of #Russian users on YouTube.-TASS pic.twitter.com/uXddGgZfEW
— Dr. Sophia Ulgen 🇺🇸 ☮ 🇷🇺 (@fatmaulgen74) July 19, 2024

“The future fate of YouTube in Russia will depend exclusively on them. If this resource’s administration does not change its policy and does not start respecting our laws, nothing good awaits it here. Our alternative platforms like Rutube and VK Video are developing very actively,” Khinshtein concluded.

Last week, Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) demanded that the U.S.-based company Google unblock over 200 Russian channels on YouTube, including the state-owned TV channel Russia Today (RT).

Previously, on several occasions, Russian courts have also fined Google for its refusal to remove fake news about the Ukrainian war from YouTube.