YouTube Not Accessible Across Russia.

2 years ago by ModerateImprovement to c/technology

The YouTube video-hosting site and app have stopped being accessible across Russia, thousands of Internet users in the country said online on August 8.
UnpopularCrow 164 points 2 years ago

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.

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Alphane_Moon 37 points 2 years ago

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.

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merde 75 points 2 years ago

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.

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starman 2 points 2 years ago

In U.S. where you don't disappear for criticising the government and it's choices

Sometimes you shoot yourself in the head. Twice.

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Alphane_Moon -3 points 2 years ago
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Alphane_Moon -22 points 2 years ago

What about so called russian "dissidents"? Navalniy and his team openly supported the annexation of Crimea (and destruction of Ukrainian and Crimean Tartar culture).

The recently exchanged "dissidents" also showed their true colours by supporting the annexation of currently occupied territories in Ukraine.

We are not discussing US right now! The US did not annex Basra state, steal all the local children, force everyone to speak English and send anyone caught talking Arabic to a torture chamber; all with support of somewhere between 65% to 85% of their population.

The overwhelming majority of Russians are genocidal imperialists. They support invasions of foreign countries, annexations, attempts at elimatining local language and culture and setting up mass torture camps for anyone opposed to the yoke of russian degeneracy.

The "trying to get by" pitch is a ruse. Both qualitative and quantitative research (different methodologies, including ones that attempt to account for preference falsification) show this is not true and that on an outcome basis, the overwhelming majority of russians are indeed genocidal imperialists.

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phlegmy 11 points 2 years ago

Fuck off with your xenophobia-biased opinions.

If you actually spent any amount of time communicating with people in Russia, you’d realise the overwhelming majority are not genocidal imperialists.

The overwhelming majority of Russians I’ve spoken to do not support the ongoing war, and would prefer if Ukraine was left alone.

I’d be interested in seeing where you’re pulling these extrapolated statistics from, including the demographics of the people who were surveyed.

If 7/10 Texans oppose abortion, does that mean 70% of the country believe the same thing?

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technocrit 8 points 2 years ago

The US did not annex Basra state

Of course not. But the US is actively funding a genocide in palestine and many similar atrocities around the globe. This empire has a long history of colonialism, imperialism, genocide, slavery, racism, war, etc. The overwhelming majority of USAians are also genocidal imperialists. Just listen to NPR. Just look at the presidential candidates.

I'm not saying the alt-empire is any better. I'm saying that empire is the same everywhere. All of these politicians are extremely privileged hanging out together at the UN, dinner parties, etc. regardless of what brand of state they serve. It's all the same system and same people. Every state and all empire is trash.

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balsoft 3 points 2 years ago

Navalniy and his team openly supported the annexation of Crimea (and destruction of Ukrainian and Crimean Tartar culture).

Not really: https://www.nytimes.com/... ; this is just days after the annexation. I'm no fan of Navalny for various reasons (his nationalist views, xenophobic comments and narratives, etc), but he was very much against all Putin's shenanigans in Ukraine, and vehemently anti-war.

The recently exchanged “dissidents” also showed their true colours by supporting the annexation of currently occupied territories in Ukraine.

What are you on about? Name one of them who supported the war. Most of them were jailed due to their anti-war positions.

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technocrit 1 point 2 years ago
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UnpopularCrow 27 points 2 years ago

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.

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Alphane_Moon -9 points 2 years ago

The majority of the young people in Russia are genocidal imperialists. Support for extermination of other countries is of course higher in the older generations, but that doesn't change the fact that a solid majority of young (e.g. 18 to 29) are genocidal imperialists.

I understand that it might be reassuring to repeat platitudes like "young people of russia are against the war", but this is clearly not true.

Even the framing is suspect. What do you mean by "the war"; the full-scale invasion? In Ukraine, the war started in 2014 with annexation of Crimea and russian invasion of Donbas.

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Petter1 12 points 2 years ago

May I know where you found the info that a solid majority of young Russians (well, I think you only talk about those that did not already leave) supports the war?

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BelatedPeacock 7 points 2 years ago

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.

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Alphane_Moon -3 points 2 years ago

Why do you say this?

If 75% of russians support the "denazification" of Ukraine, that says a lot about them, no?

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BelatedPeacock 1 point 2 years ago

Because if their government won't give them the full story it implies they might not like it.

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tenchiken 6 points 2 years ago

Yeah... I suspect it has something to do with controlling info on Ukraine pushing back perhaps.

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DarkThoughts 5 points 2 years ago

Same difference. They won't do anything about it anyway.

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GBU_28 3 points 2 years ago

Is this a new development? If so could it be due to the Ukrainian incursion? I thought telegram was more popular there for that stuff

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homesweethomeMrL 2 points 2 years ago

I have a slightly different take: I think it’s a positive thing because the sooner we destroy YouTube, the sooner YouTube will be destroyed.

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essteeyou 11 points 2 years ago

Feels like your priorities might be out of order.

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homesweethomeMrL 4 points 2 years ago

My priorities are thus:

  1. Destroy YouTube
  2. Everything else

They know what they did.

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iLL_Behaviour 3 points 2 years ago

What did they do?

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Laser 2 points 2 years ago

"YouTube delenda est"

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ohwhatfollyisman 58 points 2 years ago

damn. how would russians watch unwanted ads now?

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EisFrei 32 points 2 years ago

AFAIK they didn't have to watch ads since the sanctions took effect, because Google wasn't allowed to monetize them.

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technocrit 11 points 2 years ago

Wow. Can't wait for this empire to sanction itself.

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BassTurd 4 points 2 years ago

Prime, Netflix, Hulu, any news website, pornhub, etc...

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levzzz 54 points 2 years ago

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

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mkuznetsoff 4 points 2 years ago

Ого не знал что кто-то из русских здесь есть:)

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Omniraptor 5 points 2 years ago

нас дюжины! дюжины!

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logan_hero 3 points 2 years ago

Всего две дюжины...

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mkuznetsoff 3 points 2 years ago

это же только сервера русские, я сам на Lemmy.world

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pineapplelover 2 points 2 years ago

I mean you could still use frontends out there but don't you all start using them at once. I use them too you know.

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fluxion 28 points 2 years ago

Putin's fight against reality continues. Who will be the victor?

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kenkenken 8 points 2 years ago

Putin is reality.

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quinkin 2 points 2 years ago

I'm going to need some more details. Is reality shirtless on a horse?

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fluxion 1 point 2 years ago

Yes, and buff AF

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merde 1 point 2 years ago

Putin, of course!

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gh0stcassette 23 points 2 years ago

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?

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FeelThePower 34 points 2 years ago

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.

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MCasq_qsaCJ_234 4 points 2 years ago

It is a double-edged sword, because it would leave them blind to certain news without propaganda. Which could have direct and indirect consequences.

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FeelThePower 4 points 2 years ago

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.

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TwinTusks 1 point 2 years ago

China is doing pretty okay with it.

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Omniraptor 1 point 2 years ago

China has ten times more people than Russia, they have a big enough market to support a full fledged alternative. Russia does not

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ZILtoid1991 2 points 2 years ago

Let's hope this will lead to Putin's support evaporating.

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Mistic 14 points 2 years ago

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).

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chiliedogg 0 points 2 years ago

YouTube was running like garbage for me in Texas earlier today while everything else was fine. Are they having issues in general?

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cupcakezealot 17 points 2 years ago

this is terrible news for right wing reactionary youtube channels.

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MisterNeon 16 points 2 years ago

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.

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HobbitFoot 12 points 2 years ago

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.

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Cyberjin 13 points 2 years ago
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peregrinetech 9 points 2 years ago

And I really liked the Russian Youtubers... Nonetheless, it's a different kind of censorship and it might just lead to more propaganda...

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digredior 7 points 2 years ago

Because fuck ‘em, that’s why!

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Quill7513 6 points 2 years ago

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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Binette 3 points 2 years ago

Yoooo peertube in russia?????

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Mwa 3 points 2 years ago

Russia has rutube and yandex video ( i think)

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Mistic 8 points 2 years ago

They're crap. People will be and are looking for ways to evade restrictions.

Right now, they're only limiting speed with certain providers in certain locations. There are at least three ways that I know of to avoid it.

The thing is, I don't know how far they'll take it. Blocking YouTube is a major political risk. Practically, everybody uses it for one reason or another. So, unlike their "special military operation," this (as mercantile as it sounds) will potentially have a bigger impact on everybody's lives. But you really can never be sure with our mafia-in-charge anymore.

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Resol 4 points 2 years ago

Don't forget VK Video

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Mwa 1 point 2 years ago

Thought vk was a twitter/instagram thingy

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Resol 3 points 2 years ago

I thought it was more like Facebook.

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Omniraptor 1 point 2 years ago

They've been branching out into video, even added a dedicated video tab to the main ui

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logan_hero 1 point 2 years ago

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werefreeatlast 3 points 2 years ago

Hold on! How about Disney?

But seriously, before anyone puts a hole in putins shit basket, can you please ask him how he got the YouTube and Google to stop?

Maybe we could do the same!? We do have Mexico, should we invade Mexico? I'm fine with it, I was born there. I'm sure many others would agree conmigo.

Or maybe it's a secret Mafia connection?

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pewgar_seemsimandroid 3 points 2 years ago

turkey re(?)banned roblox

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NataliaTheDrowned2 1 point 2 years ago
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Mwa 2 points 2 years ago

Cant Russians make money from yt due to that Ukraine thing

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Mistic 10 points 2 years ago

Not unless you're making videos from abroad.

YouTube doesn't serve ads when viewed from Russia anymore, so there is no revenue from this audience. And you can't take money out from within Russia due to sanctions.

Russian YouTubers are pretty much screwed and have to re-locate. The only other option is earning from product placements.

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Mwa 1 point 2 years ago

Oh

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PanArab 1 point 2 years ago path: 0 11653484, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
dan1101 0 points 2 years ago

Why has it been accessible to begin with? $$$

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chiisana 8 points 2 years ago

There hasn’t been any monetization since shortly after the invasion started. If I have to guess, Google was just footing the bills so they don’t lose presence to some local player when it’s all over.

I’m actually more curious as to who finally pulled the plug, Google, or the Russian government; and why finally now. Article made it seem like the Russian govt wanted to violate net neutrality and slow down YT’s traffic, but makes no mentioning of which party ultimately took the service down.

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Alphane_Moon 7 points 2 years ago

It's the russian government. There have been rumors that they are planning to shut down YT for good in the last few months.

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Warl0k3 0 points 2 years ago

Good.

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considine -17 points 2 years ago

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is straight up State department propaganda.

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DarkThoughts 23 points 2 years ago

lemmy.ml is straight up lemmygrad / hexbear Tankie propaganda.

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Alphane_Moon 6 points 2 years ago

While this is somewhat true (state funded, but with some level of independence), your statement doesn't jive with reality.

I follow RFE/RL in both English and several other languages. Their reporting is far better than many multi-billion dollar private news companies in the West.

And it's not a minor difference either, the western news companies are not even close.

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cecinestpasunbot 0 points 2 years ago

What an absurd response. This is akin to saying RT isn’t Russian state propaganda.

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MCasq_qsaCJ_234 2 points 2 years ago

RT and RFE/RF are state media, but there is a difference. The former does not enjoy freedom and the latter does because of its firewall that prevents political interference.

Although the Trump administration tried to remove firewalls and introduce its inference that could have been harmful during that period.

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cecinestpasunbot 1 point 2 years ago

I think you mean it’s designed to prevent partisan interference. RFE/RL’s purpose is to support US foreign policy which makes it inherently political. It is undeniably a propaganda outlet and therefore comparable in function to RT. You may trust American propaganda over Russian propaganda but that doesn’t mean the former is not propaganda.

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YeetPics 4 points 2 years ago

I'm sure everything Russia China and NK do WRONG is just *propaganda, too.

Isn't that right .ml user?

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considine 1 point 2 years ago

Propaganda is usually truthful or exaggerated truth. It's the framing that is important. Some facts are focused on. Some facts are omitted.

I acknowledge that Russia, China and the DPRK have made mistakes and even done things that are deeply questionable. But I'm interested in comparing their mistakes or misguided actions to those of the most powerful military empire on earth. The one involved in hundreds of military actions and dozens of coups since its inception. The one with the largest per capita prison population on earth. The one which controls many of the world's financial levers.

There is a difference in the scale of their mistakes or bad actions. Propaganda distorts that difference of scale. It focuses on the crimes of the "enemies" / "axis of evil" / "rogue states" but doesn't examine context or culpability of the empire. They'll choose one conflict, downplay 9 others, and give a one-sided view of that one conflict.

That's how propaganda works. Every state produces propaganda. One state produces billions of dollars of propaganda each year.

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selokichtli -34 points 2 years ago

It's just so strange to read how Americans blame Putin for everything almost the rest of the world (demographically speaking) blames their government for.

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echodot 21 points 2 years ago

Obvious Russian troll is obvious.

Come on you can do better than this. You'r not even being entertainingly bad.

You need to improve or else you will fall out of a window.

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selokichtli -1 points 2 years ago

Sure, champion, your attention saved my life today. Let me get back to my trolling, spying, forced and commie stuff.

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