YouTube behaves surgically to avoid blocking – Kommersant

State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelkin, during a meeting with participants of the New Media Workshop, answered questions about the blocking of the social networks Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), X (ex-Twitter) and TikTok, as well as about the possible blocking of YouTube video hosting in Russia. According to him, in Russia YouTube is not blocked because it “behaves in a surgically precise manner” and does not “throw” exclusively Western propaganda at Russian users.

“YouTube does not allow it to be blocked; it behaves in a surgically calibrated manner,” said Mr. Gorelkin (quoted from RIA Novosti). He also stated that social network X can be unblocked, since after the change of ownership it became “weighted.” According to the deputy, it is possible to work effectively in X “from the point of view of counter-propaganda.”

Mr. Gorelkin also said that the blocking of Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) will not be lifted until the end of hostilities in Ukraine. “It was blocked because it was about legalizing calls to kill Russian citizens. By the way, YouTube doesn’t allow itself to do this: they block our accounts, although we can break through,” he said.

Anton Gorelkin also commented on TikTok’s plans to return to Russia. According to him, if the service returns to Russia, a “special regime for the Russian segment” could be created, in which “politically controversial content will be purged.” “They understand perfectly well that today in vertical videos no one in Russia “shot”,” said the deputy.

Information about blocking YouTube in Russia began to appear at the beginning of 2022. The State Duma has repeatedly explained that blocking video hosting in the Russian Federation is impossible until an analogue appears in the country. RuTube and VK Video hosting services are being considered as a replacement for YouTube. In May 2023, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, stated that the authorities have no intention of closing YouTube. After this, the general director of the video service, Susan Wojcicki, said that YouTube does not plan to leave the Russian market.