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| Russia warns YouTube about anti-Russian ads |
Russia has asked Alphabet Inc.'s Google. To stop posting on its YouTube video-sharing platform, which it sees as a threat to Russian citizens, a move that could herald a blanket ban on the service on Russian soil.
Roskomnadzor said that posting advertisements on the platform calling for the suspension of communication systems for the Russian and Belarusian railways proves the US company's anti-Russian stance.
“The actions of the YouTube government are terrorist in nature and threaten the life and health of Russian citizens. We strongly oppose such campaigns and demand that Google stop providing anti-Russian videos as soon as possible.”
The spat is the latest in a series of disputes between Moscow and foreign technology companies over Ukraine. YouTube, which has banned state-funded Russian channels around the world, is facing intense pressure from telecom regulators and politicians in Russia.
Moscow banned Instagram because Meta allowed users in Ukraine to post messages like deaths to Russian invaders. He also previously banned Facebook due to the platform's restrictions on Russian channels.
The Russian channel, quoting an unnamed source, said that YouTube may be blocked next week. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been highly critical of foreign social media companies.
Mentioned Meta and YouTube by name. But he hinted that it would open the door for their eventual return to the Russian market.
Russia tells YouTube to stop spreading threats against Russians
Medvedev said Russia has the tools and experience to develop its own social media. He added: The unilateral game of Western companies that control the flow of information can not continue.
"These companies need to show independence and good behavior towards Russia and its citizens to return," he wrote.
Russia's response to Facebook, VKontakte, has set a record for activity on its platform since Russia deployed its forces in Ukraine on February 24.
Within two weeks after Russia launched what it called a special disarmament operation, the site attracted 300,000 new users.
VKontakte said that on the day Instagram was banned in Russia, its daily national audience grew by 8.7% to more than 50 million people.
Anton Gorelkin, a member of the Russian State Duma's Information and Communications Committee, asked the Russians to use a service that could help them stream videos from YouTube to the local alternative, RuTube.
If YouTube continues to be a weapon in the information war, it may face the same fate as Instagram.
Meanwhile, Russian tech entrepreneurs have announced that they will launch the photo-sharing app Rossgram in the domestic market to fill the void left by Instagram.
In November, Gazprom Media launched Yappy as a local competitor to the TikTok video platform.