Topline
YouTube blocked Duma TV, a channel that broadcasts Russia’s lower house of parliament, on Saturday due to U.S. sanctions, leading Russian officials to warn YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, of retaliatory restrictions.
Key Facts
A message on the Duma TV channel said the account had been “terminated for a violation of YouTube's Terms of Service.”
A Google spokesperson said in a statement to Forbes it is “committed to compliance with all applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote in a Telegram post, “from the look of it, YouTube has signed its own warrant,” and urged users to save content and transfer it to Russian platforms—hinting at a retaliatory ban.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator, demanded on Telegram that Google, the Alphabet unit that contains YouTube, restore access to the channel, accusing it of adhering to “a pronounced anti-Russian position in the information war unleashed by the West.”
Chief Critic
State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the blocking of the channel is more “proof of violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens by Washington.” “The U.S. wants to obtain a monopoly on promoting information,” Volodin said in a Telegram post. “We cannot let it happen.”
Key Background
Russia and big tech companies have been sparring since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and as Russia cracks down on dissent and seeks to limit the information Russians have access to. Russia restricted access to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in March, and the companies also took action, like limiting the reach of posts linking to Russian state-affiliated news sources. Roskomnadzor announced Thursday it was moving to ban Google’s advertising services in the country, claiming YouTube had “turned into one of the key platforms spreading fake news” about the Russian invasion.
Big Number
$2 billion. That’s how much Russia’s bans on Facebook and Instagram will cost their parent company, Meta, according to Forbes estimates.
Further Reading
Russia Bans Facebook And Twitter (Forbes)
Russia's Instagram, Facebook Bans Will Cost Meta Nearly $2 Billion In Revenue (Forbes)
