YouTube blocks Russian parliament’s channel

YouTube blocked a Russian parliamentary channel “for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The video platform terminated the channel for Russia’s lower house of parliament.

“If we find that an account violates our Terms of Service, we take appropriate action. Our teams are closely monitoring the situation for any updates and changes,” Google, YouTube’s parent company, told Reuters in an email, noting that it was committed to trade compliance law adherence and sanction compliance.

But the move drew outrage from Russian figures and Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor.

“The American IT company adheres to a pronounced anti-Russian position in the information war unleashed by the West against our country,” Roskomnadzor said, according to the news wire, noting it had asked Google to restore access to Duma TV.

Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin claimed in a message on Telegram that “the USA wants to obtain a monopoly on promoting information,” Reuters noted, while Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram that “YouTube has signed its own warrant.

The move comes as Roskomnadzor last month fined Google after it alleged that YouTube was involved in an “information war against Russia” and had failed to get rid of prohibited content on YouTube regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The American platform frankly promotes the dissemination of false content containing unreliable socially significant information about the course of a special military operation in Ukraine that discredits the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as extremist information calling for violent actions against Russian military personnel,” Roskomnadzor alleged in a Telegram post, referring to the Russian invasion. 

The Hill has reached out to YouTube for comment.