Photo: Matthew Miller
The U.S. State Department has seen Russian authorities consistently try to restrict citizens’ access to information, and the news that the Kremlin is slowing down and blocking YouTube has become yet another confirmation of this observation. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this on Thursday, responding to a journalist’s request to comment on reports of partial blocking of YouTube in Russian regions, Voice of America reports.
Miller emphasized that the Russian authorities’ efforts to restrict people’s access to independent information have been carried out “at an accelerated pace since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They have consistently tried to limit the ability of Russian citizens to obtain information about the actions of their government.”
A State Department spokesman said the United States continues to condemn such actions by Moscow.
“We continue to urge the Kremlin to stop blocking access to information for its own people. And as we have said before, if you restrict your citizens' access to information about these actions, that is an indication that these actions may be illegal,” Miller added.
On Thursday, the Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf reported that thousands of YouTube outages had been registered in Russia. Users said they could only access YouTube through virtual private networks (VPNs).
Reuters journalists in Russia were unable to open YouTube. The site remains accessible only from some mobile devices.
YouTube remains one of the last strongholds of free speech on the Russian internet, where critical content about the Kremlin that has been removed from other popular Russian social media platforms continues to be posted.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga