Ministry of Digital Development says there are no plans to block YouTube in Russia

MOSCOW, 18 Oct — PRIME. The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation confirmed to RIA Novosti that there are still no plans to block YouTube in Russia.

“On September 28, Maksut Shadayev (head of the Ministry of Digital Development – ed.), at a meeting with regional journalists, said:” We still have no plans to close YouTube. “This statement remains the most relevant so far, there is no new information,” the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Google blocked the accounts of the Federation Council and the Vmeste-RF TV channel on YouTube. The Federation Council and the TV channel have been present on video hosting for more than eight years, their channels have more than 200,000 subscribers and 20,000 videos. The accounts published live broadcasts of meetings of the Federation Council, committees, congresses and forums, comments by senators on topical issues, educational programs about the history of Russia. It was noted that the Federation Council and Together-RF actively developed platforms on domestic platforms and therefore will continue to broadcast on VK, Odnoklassniki and Telegram.

Roskomnadzor demanded that Google unblock accounts of the Federation Council on YouTube. The agency reported that it considers the actions of the video hosting as an unprecedented act of censorship and a rude attempt to limit the information work of the state body of Russia. Since April 2020, 87 similar acts of censorship have already been identified.