The Curtain Falls: Russia’s YouTube Ban and Its Impact on Society

[ericbj]

18 hours ago, Enoon said:

...

Because all MSN is bad.......yes?

 

 

 

Not necessarily.  You can still see interesting stuff.

 

So long as it does not touch on foreign policy, "defence", immigration and other contentious issues of domestic politics, or the financial interests of major beneficiaries of government policies and spending, such as producers of vaccines and armaments.

 

You are not supposed to connect the dots.

 

Diversion - not diversity of opinion - is the name of the game.

[ericbj]

19 hours ago, Social Media said:

 

In a move that has sent shockwaves across the digital landscape of Russia, the Kremlin has begun shutting down access to YouTube, one of the last remaining platforms where independent voices could still be heard. The decision, while not entirely unexpected, has profound implications for a nation that has increasingly found itself isolated from the rest of the world, both culturally and politically.

 

The timing of this move is telling. On August 11, 2024, the Olympic closing ceremony in Paris captivated the world, including many Russians who, despite the ongoing war with Ukraine and the new Cold War proclaimed by the Kremlin, were eager to watch the global event. The ceremony, which featured Hollywood star Tom Cruise descending from the top of the Stade de France to take the Olympic flag from gymnast Simone Biles, was particularly poignant for Russians due to their historic affection for Paris, a sentiment that dates back to the 19th century.

 

Yet, due to the harsh reality of international sanctions and the isolationist policies of their government, Russian viewers had no official means of watching the event. Instead, millions turned to YouTube, as they have done for years. For people like 70-year-old Elena from Moscow, YouTube was a lifeline. She managed to catch most of the ceremony on her iPad, albeit with some delay, and it brought her a sense of connection to a world that is increasingly out of reach for many Russians.

 

But almost immediately after the ceremony, the access that Elena and millions of others enjoyed was cut off as the Kremlin moved to block YouTube across the country. For Elena, who lacks the technical know-how to navigate around the restrictions with a VPN, this marked the end of her access to a window on the world.

 

This crackdown on YouTube has been in the works for years. Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, simply cannot tolerate the existence of a platform that offers contradictory and widely available sources of information in an increasingly despotic state. This is not the first time the Kremlin has sought to control the flow of information to its citizens. In the early 2000s, television was seen as a powerful tool of mass communication, and the government kept it tightly under control as it was the most popular media and entertainment platform in the country.

 

However, the landscape began to shift in the spring of 2017. That year, protests erupted across many Russian cities, sparked in part by a video about the corruption of then-Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev. The video, produced by opposition leader Alexey Navalny's team, was posted on YouTube and watched over 20 million times. It galvanized a new generation of protesters, including teenagers, who took to the streets in unprecedented numbers. Suddenly, Russian-speaking YouTube had gone political, with well-known bloggers producing heavily political content and opposition politicians becoming some of the platform's most popular figures.

 

As YouTube's influence grew, the influence of traditional television began to wane. By 2019, for the first time in Russian history, online advertising revenue overtook that of television. TV ad spending increased by 9% to 187 billion rubles ($2.1 billion), while Internet ad spending surged by 22% to 203 billion rubles. The shift was unmistakable, and even mainstream journalists began migrating to YouTube, a trend that was only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdowns, the demand for Russian-language content on YouTube skyrocketed.

 

By the time the pandemic struck, the Kremlin had already been working for two years on a new censorship system designed to deal with the perceived threat posed by YouTube. This system, known as the Sovereign Internet, was composed of several elements. The first involved providing Russian Internet service providers with special equipment that allowed censors to suppress and redirect traffic across the country from a central point in Moscow. 

 

As the situation evolves, the impact on Russian society and the response of the nearly 100 million users who relied on YouTube will be critical to watch, as it could lead to further resistance against the government's tightening grip on information.

 

Credit: CEPA  2024-08-21

 

 

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There ought also to be shockwaves in the EU.
Are there?
For the reason look for this:

 

 LIVE: Macron's France To Shut Down Elon Musk’s X In Europe

[fotofinish]

11 hours ago, KhunLA said:

 

Wow ... well you certainly told me... 2X.  Very insightful and well thought out rebuttal. 

lol a ruzzian using phrases and words like ''insightful'' and 'well thought out rebuttal' too funny.

Cheerleading for thieves,murderers and war criminals who fire cruise missiles at children's hospitals, yeah you've really made something out of your life sergei.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, fotofinish said:

you've really made something out of your life sergei.

And yours is trolling AN ... do you need a degree for that comrade 

 

BYE BYE ... Have a nice day

Edited August 22 by KhunLA

[fotofinish]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:34 AM, KhunLA said:

And yours is trolling AN ... do you need a degree for that comrade 

 

BYE BYE ... Have a nice day

yeh you stay safe there sergei in the land of the Free ....the fatherland misses you wishes the best for you lol

[candide]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:31 PM, ericbj said:

There ought also to be shockwaves in the EU.
Are there?
For the reason look for this:

 

 LIVE: Macron's France To Shut Down Elon Musk’s X In Europe

Ridiculous false equivalence....

[Cameroni]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:08 PM, KhunLA said:

Makes sense, as most content is anti RU.

 

USA isn't much different, as they censor so much of the content, on most all platforms.  Add Google to that also.   Amazing what is scrubbed from G search also, which I've seen and knew was there before.

 

Doing your 'own research' is next to impossible of late.

 

Just about all info is controlled now, all platforms.  X being the last fairly open platform, without govt censorship.

 

So much misinformation on the internet, I really don't bother much any more.  Which is fine by me, as more quality time with wife & dog.

 

This is so true, I wanted to get the Russian side of the story and go to Russia Today using google. Impossible.

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

This is so true, I wanted to get the Russian side of the story and go to Russia Today using google. Impossible.

Edited August 23 by KhunLA

[Cameroni]

Yeah, it works again. The other day it didn't.

[radiochaser]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:42 PM, MicroB said:

 

GDPR meams that many US regional affiliates, and sites like Yahoo Japan, will block content from being viewed in Europe, including the UK.

 

Watching RT is a bit like those who used to tune into Radio Moscow during the Cold War in the belief that it gave some sort of balance to Radio 4, the World Service, VoA etc. It didn't of course.

 

I used to listen to Radio Moscow and intercept radio teletype traffic from Radio Tass.   

 

The only thing I can remember from reading the Radio Tass intercept were the many reports of people being arrested for possession of home made sub machineguns.   Reports of the sub machineguns being tested and that they functioned perfectly.   If I recall correctly, those were weekly reports.   So much for gun bans.   

[Chris Daley]

Meanwhile aseannow continues to ban any quotes from George Orwell 1984.