President Vladimir Putin has ordered an investigation into YouTube's slow speed and service disruptions in Russia. The Kremlin said on Friday (Nov 15) that the country's top film official, Karen Shakhnazarov, had brought the issue to Putin's attention. British news agency Reuters reported this.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Google's disregard for Russian law was responsible for YouTube's slowdown. The technical issues have been brought to the notice of the concerned authorities, he said.
Google did not immediately comment on the matter.
Critics believe that the Russian authorities have an intentional role behind YouTube's slowdown. The move, they claim, is to keep Russians away from information sensitive to Putin and his government. However, Russia denied the allegations and said that the problem was caused by Google's underdeveloped equipment. Google and technology experts have rejected this allegation.
Russian internet service monitoring organizations have reported that there have been major disruptions to YouTube services in the country over the past few months. But Roskomnadzor, the country's communications regulator, claimed on Friday that no changes had been made to YouTube's service.
According to research firm Mediascope, an average of 50 million Russian citizens use YouTube every day.
Peskov said YouTube's slowdown is not on Russia's current priority list. However, Mosfilm head Karen Shakhnazarov said on Thursday that he had discussed the matter with Putin.
He also said he doesn't think there's a particular need to slow down YouTube. However, the president is concerned that there is a lot of negative content on YouTube.
In Russia, foreign social media, including Google, have been under pressure for several years. Google has often come under fire for spreading so-called misinformation about the war in Ukraine.
Shakhnazarov said YouTube has bad content. However, if you want to see them, you can bypass the restrictions. But many people only use the platform to watch movies and other content. He also claimed that the President has assured to look into the matter after listening to his statement.
It should be noted that in Russia, YouTube is not only an entertainment platform, but also an important medium for anti-government voices and free expression. Therefore, the recent incident of YouTube service disruption has created a controversy across the country.
