YouTube Blackout Occurs In Russia Amid Increased Official Criticism

There are thousands of YouTube-related disturbances in Russia (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA Russia's internet monitoring service reported a massive blackout on its YouTube video site on Thursday, August 8, as official criticism of the platform increased.

Russia's internet monitoring service, Sboi.rf, reported thousands of YouTube-related disturbances in Russia. Users reveal that they can only access YouTube via virtual private networks (VPNs).

"YouTube is not working," an anonymous user said in comments on the site. Reuters journalists in Russia cannot access YouTube. The site remains accessible via multiple mobile devices.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Russia's state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, also did not immediately respond.

YouTube is one of the last bastions of freedom of expression on the Russian internet, where the site continues to accommodate material from opponents of the Kremlin which has largely been removed from other popular social media in Russia.

The site's download speed has fallen significantly in recent weeks, which Russian lawmakers have blamed on YouTube owner Alphabet, a claim the company denies.

Alexander Khinshtein, head of the parliamentary committee for information policy, warned last month that YouTube's speed would drop to 70%. He said the decline was "a necessary, undirected step towards Russian users, but against the administration of foreign resources who still believe they can violate and ignore our laws without punishment."

Khinshtein then explicitly blamed the drop on Google's failure to invest in Russian infrastructure, such as local cache servers, something YouTube denies.

A YouTube spokesperson said last week that they were aware of reports of the inability of some people to access YouTube in Russia, and stated that this was not a result of technical action from their side.