MOSCOW, January 4. /TASS/. Russia’s telecom watchdog is considering the possibility of imposing economic restrictions on YouTube over its blocking of Russian media outlets’ channels, including the RT auf Sendung account owned by the RT TV channel, the Izvestia daily wrote on Friday, citing a statement from the watchdog.
According to the newspaper, the watchdog may impose economic restrictions against YouTube based on a law regulating the Internet activities of foreigners in Russia. In particular, YouTube may face bans on advertisement and search results, as well as payment and money transfer restrictions.
On December 16, 2021, the RT TV channel said that YouTube had blocked the account of its new German-language RT Deutsch channel on the day of its launch. On December 17, Russia’s telecom watchdog demanded that Google lift restrictions against RT Deutsch on YouTube.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law obliging the owners of foreign Internet resources with a daily audience of over 500,000 Russian users to open subsidiaries and offices in the country starting January 1, 2022. It also introduced a set of measures aimed at making IT companies observe Russian legislation, including the possibility to partially or fully block a platform for violating the law.