The publication Meduza reported that in Russia the authorities began to deliberately slow down the work of YouTube.
Russia has reported that YouTube may experience disruptions in the country due to technical problems. Video hosting will reportedly start working more slowly starting today, but experts say the “slowdown” may be a deliberate decision by the Russian authorities.
Version of the authorities
In May 2022, Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube and Google, decided to leave Russia and move its employees abroad. According to Russian authorities, since Google left Russia, the company has stopped supplying the country with new equipment and servicing old ones.
We are talking about Google Global Cache technology, which allows you to download video content from servers located directly in the user’s region. This technology was used to speed up the work of YouTube in Russia. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, Google shut down some servers in Russia, and the rest were not updated.
Special manipulations?
Meduza, citing a source in the telecommunications industry, reported that Roskomnadzor began to artificially slow down YouTube – testing began on the networks of Rostelecom and Tele2.
Russian authorities may need to slow down YouTube so people move to Russian platforms – Rutube, VK and others.
Since 2022, the Russian authorities have been actively trying to introduce their own alternatives to YouTube, but not a single Russian service has gained much popularity. On the contrary, YouTube’s audience in Russia is only growing.
In addition, YouTube remains one of the last unblocked platforms for Russians, where major bloggers and opposition politicians publish, among other things. Many of them became known as so-called “foreign agents” after the war began because of their content.
Why not just block YouTube?
“Why can’t YouTube be blocked immediately? Due to this case, some other infrastructure from YouTube may also collapse and, for example, all Android smartphones will stop working in Russia,” the BBC quoted Privacy Accelerator founder Stanislav Shakirov.
Rostelecom on Friday morning warned that the loading speed of YouTube videos and their quality may decrease due to “technical problems in the operation of equipment owned by Google. ”
Russian authorities deny any special manipulations on YouTube. “We are talking about a problem with equipment that has not been updated in any way for more than two years. There are no other explanations here,” said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Gazeta.ru sources say that YouTube in Russia is planned to be permanently blocked in September. “Throughout July and August there will be some degradation, meaning that in some regions the working conditions of YouTube will worsen. In some cases it will slow down, in others the site will lag, in others the application will crash. And in September the blockade will begin,” said a source close to the Russian Presidential Administration.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.