The State Duma allowed Google to comply with the requirements for “derussification”

Google can comply with Kyiv’s demands for “derussification” of search results and YouTube recommendations, but this is unlikely to help eliminate the Russian language in Ukraine, stated State Duma deputy Anton Gorelkin in his Telegram channel.

Earlier, the wife of the President of Ukraine, Elena Zelenskaya, met with Google representatives and informed them of several “wishes” of the authorities, wrote Ukrainian media. In particular, in Kyiv they are asking Google to display Crimea for all Google Maps users as the territory of Ukraine. Now the peninsula is shown to users from Russia as part of it, but to Europeans it is shown as a disputed territory.

In addition, in Kyiv they are asking to “de-Russify” search results on Google and recommendations on YouTube, as well as change the automatic delivery of Russian-language content for Ukrainians and Ukrainian IP addresses to Ukrainian and Western products.

Gorelkin calls these wishes “information terror” of citizens; this is a continuation of Ukraine’s information policy over the “last couple of decades.” According to him, the Ukrainian authorities “are doing everything to destroy the Russian language: first they removed it from documents, then from culture and the media, from education, etc.” However, these attempts did not bring results, since many Ukrainians continue to speak Russian and “resolutely refuse to switch to Surzhik,” the parliamentarian believes.

According to Gorelkin, “based on the vectors of American policy,” Google will fulfill these requirements: “both the search results and recommendations will be improved.” “Will this help eliminate the Russian language on the territory of Ukraine? But I strongly doubt this,” he wrote.