Russia’s media regulator has warned internet providers to stop trying to make YouTube load faster, an acknowledgment of the government’s efforts to throttle the popular video streaming platform, independent news outlet Sotavision reports. Reported Late Wednesday.
The Main Radio Frequency Center GRChT, Roskomnadzor’s regulatory and control department, issued the following warning message: Reports Dozens of internet providers are reportedly implementing workarounds to make YouTube load faster, such as rerouting user traffic from Google’s Russian servers to those in Europe.
Industry sources told Kommersant that they did not believe the workaround violated any rules because the Russian government had not issued any formal restrictions against YouTube.
However, the GRChTs letter cited by SotaVision instructs providers to “eliminate the use of technologies that distort, fragment and substitute Internet traffic” for websites “subject to regulation by Russian law,” referring to YouTube.
Internet providers are asked to comply with the order “to enable them to immediately restrict access to the mentioned information or information resources on the Internet,” although the letter does not specify what “resources” means.
The Moscow Times was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the GRChTs’ letter, which instructs providers to report on their efforts by next Monday. Sotavision said it had reviewed the letter with Russian fixed-line and Ethernet company Transtelecom.
Russian online users began experiencing steep declines in YouTube loading speeds in early August after Russia’s state-run telecommunications giant warned that Google was removing its equipment from the country, causing “technical issues” that would lead to slower speeds.
At the same time, Russia’s Federal Communications Regulatory Service asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai to restore more than 200 YouTube channels belonging to pro-government Russian media, authorities and other public figures.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russian authorities have accused YouTube and Google of spreading “terrorist” anti-war content, sparking speculation that video streaming sites may be blocked entirely.
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