The Russian body said it had asked the telecommunications giant Google, which owns YouTube , to “lift as soon as possible” the restrictions against YouTube networks RT DE and Fehlende Part . And he also recalled that the “law provides for a total or partial suspension of access if the owner of a platform does not execute a warning from Roskomnadzor.”
YouTube blocked RT DE and Der Fehlende Part accounts on Tuesday for having violated internal community rules, spreading “false information” about the coronavirus and wanting to bypass a download suspension. The Kremlin called the decision “censorship” on Wednesday and considered that “the adoption of coercive measures against this platform so that it respects Russian laws” is not ruled out.
“There are signs that show that Russian laws have been violated and that they have been rudely violated. This is related to censorship and obstacles to the dissemination of information, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the press.
Hours earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement accused the German authorities of “having encouraged” this decision, the aim of which is to “silence” a media that annoys them.
“Retaliation”
In this context, “taking symmetrical retaliatory measures against the German media in Russia … seems not only appropriate but necessary,” the ministry added.
This Wednesday, Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the German government stressed that the country’s authorities had “nothing to do” with this suspension of RT and warned that “anyone who calls for reprisals does not show adequate respect for freedom of the press.”
RT, which broadcasts in English, French and Spanish, is seen as part of the Kremlin’s propaganda abroad.
According to the German press, YouTube blocked RT DE’s accounts, because this medium wanted, via its chain Der Fehlende Part, to bypass a ban on broadcasting new videos for a week due to the spread of disinformation about the coronavirus.
According to RT, this suspension was going to be lifted on Wednesday and finally had to hinder its proper functioning in the days surrounding the German legislative elections of September 26.
Russia has multiplied the offensive against the large social networks and digital platforms in these months and has accused them of being in the pay of Western interests.
Among others, it forced Google and Apple to block in Russia a series of content linked to the jailed opponent Alexei Navalni, an act that he described as “complicity” with the censorship exercised by President Vladimir Putin.
Sources within the companies implied that they had yielded to Russia because their workers in that country ran the risk of being arrested.
Westerners believe that Russia carries out disinformation campaigns on social media to sow discord or to interfere for electoral purposes, as happened in the 2016 US presidential elections.
Extremism
Social networks are spaces for freedom of expression on which the opponents of the Kremlin rely.
But the Russian government is now demanding that telecom giants moderate content in Russia and abide by harsh Russian standards.
For example, the Russian authorities can declare any organization critical of power “extremist” and ask that its publications be blocked. It is exactly what they do with the Navalni movement.
Twitter, accused of not removing content deemed illegal, has been working very slowly in Russia since March. Heavier videos, photos and other content are very difficult to download.
In January, Putin viewed the internet giants as “competing” with states and denounced their “attempts to brutally control society.”
Russia was endowed in 2019 with a law for the development of a sovereign internet. The authorities deny wanting to build a national network under their control, as in China, but it is exactly what the opposition and NGOs fear.
Social networks are already forced to store the data of their Russian users on Russian territory.
Finally, the digital giants will soon have to open official representations that will be responsible for “any violation of Russian law.”
