While I understand people’s initial reaction to think this is a positive thing, I don’t believe it is. The less free speech and media the Russian people have access to, the more control Putins propaganda machine has.
Practically all russians have had access to fully uncensored YT just one click away on their smartphones for over a decade (until today).
That didn't really change anything. Russia's problems lie in the attitude of the overwhelming majority of its people, not in the lack of access to information.
They make a conscious and fully informed choice to be genocidal imperialists and embrace authoritarianism.
Russia's problems lie in the attitude of the overwhelming majority of its people, not in the lack of access to information.
They make a conscious and fully informed choice to be genocidal imperialists and embrace authoritarianism.
"they"?
what happens to dissidents in Putin's Russia? It's easy to criticize a repressed population when you're not risking anything.
were all U.S. citizens responsible for the invasion of iraq? In U.S. where you don't disappear for criticising the government and it's choices, what difference did that freedom of speech make for Iraqis?
Where in the so called "west" do people keep buying from Putin's Russia through cloaked trade?
while we're on the subject of "genocidal imperialists embracing authoritarianism", who are the greatest sponsors of one of the longest running apartheid regime? Is "the attitude of the overwhelming majority of its people" the cause of this genocidal apartheid?
nuances! "Overwhelming majority" is just trying to get by. Most people are not power hungry psychopaths. If Putin, Netanyahu and some more of their ilk died today, world would be a better place tomorrow.
fuck this! it's time to go offline and read a decent book.
I don’t think a grassroots revolution will be taking place anytime soon, but this is aimed at the young people of Russia who are against the war. The old people there love Putin but I suspect they also aren’t watching YouTube.
Not a Russian political expert, but the fact Putin keeps calling it "denazification" and a "special military operation" leads me to believe there's a lot of people who don't support a full blown war.
Yeah... I suspect it has something to do with controlling info on Ukraine pushing back perhaps.
Same difference. They won't do anything about it anyway.
damn. how would russians watch unwanted ads now?
AFAIK they didn't have to watch ads since the sanctions took effect, because Google wasn't allowed to monetize them.
Wow. Can't wait for this empire to sanction itself.
Prime, Netflix, Hulu, any news website, pornhub, etc...
Russian here. Yes, this is indeed true. They've been throttling the bandwidth for a good while before, even yt music was slow. GoodbyeDPI lets you bypass the blocks for now. Idk what to expect next tbh
Putin's fight against reality continues. Who will be the victor?
Putin is reality.
Is this the Russian Government censoring them, or is YouTube just pulling out because the sanctions mean they can't run ads to Russian IPs?
the biggest ISP in Russia, rostelecom, started throttling youtube by 80% last month and is planning a full blocking. It's a curious choice though... even the hardest most Z people are not happy about it.
It is a double-edged sword, because it would leave them blind to certain news without propaganda. Which could have direct and indirect consequences.
there is a browser extension that loads websites without middleman interference, a lot of people are using that. apparently it even unblocks twitter and some other sites.
The government claims it's Google's hardware getting outdated. Google says that's bs.
I think that it's convenient how they're telling that to us right before throttling YouTube only with certain providers (and seems to be with only certain regions as well).
this is terrible news for right wing reactionary youtube channels.
Wasn't Russia throttling YouTube bandwidth before hand to prepare for this? Along with banning cell phones for their soldiers, I guess they're going for complete media blackout and control.
Edit: I guess they announced 70% slowdown a couple weeks ago and just went straight to full shutdown.
Banning cell phones for soldiers on the front line has become common since the phone transmissions are used as bombing targets.
However, the blackout of YouTube for the civilian populace is mainly for control purposes, especially as Ukraine is fairly active on YouTube.
Thought it has already banned? Thought they had the same view as Chinese government to limited information so they can better brainwash people in Russia with propaganda.
And I really liked the Russian Youtubers... Nonetheless, it's a different kind of censorship and it might just lead to more propaganda...
Because fuck ‘em, that’s why!
That's what you get. Ukraine doesn't have access to YouTube either thanks to the rolling blackouts. So... I guess cry more? Or if you're Russian and reading this, and you want change for your country: realize you are many, they are few, and the few they have aren't currently as strong as they were before your country illegally invaded Ukraine. It won't be easy but maybe you and your brethren can secure a safer future for your children, those children, and all the children you will never meet, by rising up against your oppressors
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