Chairman of the State Duma Information Policy Committee Alexander Khinshtein ruled out blocking YouTube in Russia until a full analogue of the platform appears. The deputy noted that users would be the first to suffer a hasty ban.
“Today, unfortunately, there is no adequate and complete substitute for YouTube in its Russian analogues. The key word here is “for now,” Interfax quotes Khinshtein.
The politician stated that now YouTube, like its parent company Google, “adopts a rather subjective and politically motivated position towards Russia.”
However, if the authorities decide to limit access to the platform, “the issue of a suitable replacement must first be resolved, otherwise users will become hostages.” According to the deputy, YouTube does not yet have an equivalent national analogue and the question will soon arise why it has not yet been created.
At the same time, Khinshtein stated that blocking the WhatsApp messenger “will not create serious problems”, since the application has many analogues. The head of the Information Policy Committee reiterated that the messenger would be blocked if Russian-language channels were launched.
Previously, representatives of the Russian authorities said that the position on WhatsApp’s activities in the country could be reviewed. In connection with the appearance of channels in the messenger, representatives of parliament fear “the appearance of falsifications about the Northern Military District, the RF Armed Forces, the Russian government and the history of our country.”
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Author:
Akhmed Sadulayev
Source: RB
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