Russia curbs American YouTube, Kadyrov calls for complete ban
Russia has slowed down the speed of American YouTube in its country by nearly 70%. This is a reaction to the creation of its alternative and the systematic appearance of "anti-Russian" content on the platform. According to Kadyrov, Russia should go a step further and completely shut down this platform.
The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for two and a half years. During this time, many sanctions have been imposed on Russia, to which Russia had to respond somehow. Among them, besides the economic ones, there was also a technological exclusion that particularly hurt the Russian elites from big cities.
Over time, Russians began to circumvent this, returning once again to the most popular social media in the world. However, they increasingly encountered dangerous information about Kremlin policies from the West, which the Russian government later started to fight against.
The result was recent media reports that Russians managed to use certain features of the American platform and create their equivalent of YouTube. Now, it turns out that the Kremlin authorities are so convinced of the excellence of this copy that they decided to fight against the original and slow down its data transmission by over 70%.
Kadyrov demands a complete shutdown of the "anti-Russian" YouTube
— Close YouTube to hell. Unfortunately, we are late: YouTube should have been shut down a long time ago — said the Chechen leader after the Friday slowdown of the American platform. According to Kadyrov, it is too lenient treatment of American social media that slows down the development of Russian technologies.
The Chechen points towards China as an example of the correct policy. In his opinion, cutting off access for local citizens to foreign media helped develop "patriotic" Chinese applications. However, to propagate them, engaging the country's most popular stars is necessary.
According to Kadyrov, Russian social networks are not developing because "our top artists, actors, and athletes" use foreign platforms. "If we closed everything like in China and other places, our own websites would develop," he told journalists.
