Head of Mosfilm addresses Putin about slow YouTube

More than 50 million people in Russia use the YouTube video platform on the Internet every day – not only, but also to watch independent news channels and to stay in touch with the Russian opposition in exile. After massive outages in recent months and a significant slowdown in YouTube speeds, the head of the state cinema authority Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov has now spoken to President Vladimir Putin. According to the Reuters news agency, Putin then promised that he would take care of the problem. Critics believe YouTube is being intentionally disrupted by authorities to prevent people from viewing critical content there. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also explained that the problems with YouTube arose because Google, as the operator, did not comply with Russian laws. In addition, YouTube speed is “not a particular priority” for people in Russia. Google and other foreign social media platforms have been under pressure in Russia for years – primarily because they do not delete critical content such as reports about the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.