Russia throttles YouTube in latest attack on social media

• Russia has intensified its digital crackdown, throttling YouTube in an effort to assert digital sovereignty.
• YouTube continued to operate in Russia, providing access to global perspectives despite ongoing regulatory and operational challenges.

OUR TAKE
Russia is stepping up its efforts to control digital content by reducing download speeds on YouTube, with plans to cut them by up to 70% next week. This action is a key component of Russia’s broader strategy to establish digital sovereignty, a campaign that includes blocking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and has gained momentum since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Despite facing significant financial and legal challenges, YouTube remains an essential platform for access to global perspectives in Russia, and works alongside other Google services. The move marks a significant step forward in Russia’s ongoing campaign to limit the influence of US social media platforms in the country.
—Heidi Luo, BTW reporter

What happened

Russia has reduced YouTube’s download speeds and plans to slow it down by up to 70% by next week, according to Alexander Khinshtein, head of the technology committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament.

Khinshtein announced on his Telegram channel that the initial slowdown would reduce speeds by around 40% this week, rising to 70% the following week. This action is part of a wider campaign that has already seen the blocking of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) in an effort to uphold what the Kremlin describes as digital sovereignty.

“Everything that’s happening is a consequence of the host’s anti-Russian policy, which consistently deletes channels of our public figures (bloggers, journalists, artists) with positions that differ from the Western point of view,” Khinshtein said.

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Why it’s important

Following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia stepped up its pursuit of ‘digital sovereignty‘ by driving out several foreign social media and internet companies. Despite these restrictions, YouTube has continued to function within Russia, largely due to the lack of viable domestic alternatives.

The platform remains one of the few outlets through which Russians can access global perspectives, although it has been criticised by Russian authorities for removing content from Russian public figures that challenges Western narratives.

Google has been repeatedly fined for non-compliance issues, such as failing to remove content deemed illegal in Russia. Furthermore, despite Google’s Russian subsidiary declaring bankruptcy in 2022 after local authorities seized its bank accounts over unpaid fines, Google still manages to offer other services in Russia, such as Google Search and Gmail.

The availability of YouTube on mobile devices remains unchanged, while Russian platforms such as Rutube and VK Video are being promoted as alternatives. Similarly, Russia had previously throttled X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2021 for failing to remove certain content.

This action was a first step towards the complete blocking of the platform after the start of the war in Ukraine. Around half of the Russian population uses YouTube on a monthly basis, according to Mediascope.