Russian officials on Saturday accused US video hosting service YouTube of blocking the lower house of parliament’s channel and warned of reprisals.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the head of the State Duma, said Washington is violating “the rights of Russians”, while Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “YouTube has sealed its fate”.
“The United States wants to have a monopoly on the dissemination of information,” Volodin told Telegram.
“We cannot allow that.”
Google confirmed it had “terminated” the Russian Duma’s YouTube channel due to recent US sanctions.
“Google is committed to complying with all applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws,” a Google spokesperson told AFP in a statement.
“If we find that an account is violating our terms of service, we will take appropriate action.”
AFP journalists confirmed the site was inaccessible.
According to Moscow, Duma-TV has more than 145,000 subscribers. It broadcasts clips of parliamentary debates and interviews with Russian lawmakers.
On Thursday, Russia’s state communications watchdog said it would ban US internet giant Google from advertising its services in the country, accusing YouTube of spreading “fake news” about its military campaign in Ukraine.
Russia has moved to block access to non-state media and information resources, and fears are mounting that Google could be next in line for a ban.
The watchdog said Google-owned YouTube had committed “numerous violations” of Russian law and was “one of the main platforms spreading fake news about the conduct of the special military operation in Ukraine, discrediting Russia’s armed forces.” brought”.
It said it had decided “to introduce coercive measures”.
It said these include “a ban on the distribution of ads for Google LLC and its information resources.”
