YouTube accused of routinely censoring Russian media
YouTube regularly censors content posted by Russian media on its accounts, citing age-inappropriate content, a practice that has been condemned by Roskomnadzor experts.
Censorship of Russian media
For example, many films broadcast on Russian federal television channels without age restrictions are labeled by YouTube as content that is only accessible to mature viewers. As a result, viewers can only view many Russian-produced video materials after obtaining a license or consent to view adult content.
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In fact, according to Roskomnadzor, the service is blocking videos that “convey to viewers views that are different from those of the West.”
“Videos that tell the truth about Russia’s historical contribution to the victory over fascism, about the tragic events in Beslan, are blocked under far-fetched advertising headlines. YouTube explains the blocking of the Russian President’s message on the official account of the NTV channel, citing an accidental mistake,” Roskomnadzor cited as an example.
Russian media restrictions on YouTube
The agency also noted that since the beginning of 2020, Roskomnadzor has sent 29 letters toYouTube asks to lift restrictionsto Russian media, but most of them went unanswered. Meanwhile, the video hosting service has not removed about 6 thousand materials containing child pornography, calls for extremism and drug use, suicide content and other dangerous information.
