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It’s pretty safe to assume that nothing happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin’s knowledge, but he is reportedly coy about YouTube slowdowns in the country.
In an appearance on Russian television, filmmaker Karen Shakhnazarov said he recently met with Putin and expressed concern about the restriction of Google’s video streaming service. “Slowing down YouTube is not very advisable today in my opinion,” Shakhnazarov said, according to Reuters. “Then the president said there’s all kinds of nastiness.”
Shakhnazarov argued that people will find ways to bypass blocks, such as VPNs, so why bother? “He listened and said, ‘I’ll look into it,’” Shakhnazarov said of Putin.
Since August, Russia has reduced YouTube speeds by as much as 70%. The party line is that this move was due to Google removing channels created by state television networks and some public figures. But it’s just as likely that Putin doesn’t want Russians to watch content that criticizes him and his policies, Reuters notes.
At the end of October, a Russian court fined Google $20 decillion (36 zeros) for blocking seventeen YouTube channels from local TV networks.
Russia blames Google. “Some of these problems are solely due to the position of [YouTube’s] owner, [which refuses] to comply with Russian laws,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
