Internet
Russian parliament complains about blocking of its YouTube channel
Many users fear that after blocking Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, YouTube could soon be shut down in Russia as well. Photo: Monika Skolimowska/dpa
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The State Duma YouTube channel is no longer accessible. Google, which owns Youtube, explains the blockade with sanctions and resulting trade regulations.
Russia’s parliament has complained about the blocking of his channel on the YouTube video platform and has indicated that YouTube may soon be blocked in Russia.
The State Duma announced on Saturday on the VKontakte network that YouTube had announced the blocking of the site, which had previously shown broadcasts of plenary sessions. The State Duma’s YouTube channel was actually no longer accessible on Saturday.
The US company Google, to which YouTube belongs, explained the blockade with sanctions and the resulting trade regulations, according to the Russian agency Interfax. In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the United States put the entire State Duma on its sanctions list at the end of March.
Russia’s parliament leader Vyacheslav Volodin claimed that IT companies were being forced by US authorities to wage an “information war” against Moscow. “We cannot allow that,” Volodin wrote on Telegram.
Since invading neighboring Ukraine, Russia has taken massive action against foreign social media platforms in recent weeks. Many users fear that after blocking Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, YouTube could soon be shut down in Russia as well. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, now wrote on Telegram: “Apparently YouTube has signed its own verdict. Save your content, broadcast it to Russian platforms. And fast.”