{"id":4104,"date":"2020-12-29T20:58:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T20:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=144521"},"modified":"2020-12-29T20:58:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T20:58:35","slug":"russia-needs-popular-equivalent-to-youtube-regulator-says-as-it-struggles-to-censor-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/29\/russia-needs-popular-equivalent-to-youtube-regulator-says-as-it-struggles-to-censor-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Needs ‘Popular Equivalent’ To YouTube, Regulator Says As it Struggles to Censor Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"
Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, says the country needs an alternative to YouTube, the U.S. online video-sharing platform that it struggles to censor.<\/p>\n
“Due to the absence of a direct competitor in Russia, YouTube is still irreplaceable,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement on December 29.<\/p>\n
The regulator added that there was a need for a “popular equivalent” in Russia that would reduce Russians’ dependence on foreign social media.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin is losing its grip on information dissemination inside the country as more and more Russians turn to foreign social-media sites like YouTube and Instagram for content.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been able to maintain high ratings during his two decades in power in part thanks to Kremlin control over the country’s main TV stations.<\/p>\n
An effective and popular Russian competitor to YouTube would enable the government to impair YouTube’s ability to operate inside the country.<\/p>\n
Roskomnadzor’s comments came the same day that Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case against Aleksei Navalny, the Kremlin critic who has deftly used YouTube to expose corruption at the highest levels of government.<\/p>\n
It also comes the same day that Gazprom-Media, the media arm of state-controlled natural-gas giant Gazprom, acquired a 100 percent stake in Russian video-streaming service Rutube.<\/p>\n
Gazprom-Media is Russia’s largest media company, with holdings including several leading television channels, radio stations, and print media.<\/p>\n
Roskomnadzor’s chief, Aleksandr Zharov, said work was under way to make Rutube as “convenient” as YouTube.<\/p>\n
On December 23, the State Duma approved in a final reading a bill that would allow Roskomnadzor to block websites that “discriminate against Russian media.”<\/p>\n
Roskomnadzor would be allowed to partially or fully restrict or slow access to websites found in violation of the law.<\/p>\n
The bill is seen affecting major social media such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n