Loren Lemon
Russia on Wednesday threatened to block Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube.
The development comes just a day after YouTube deleted state-backed broadcaster Russia Today’s German-language channels.
YouTube said RT had violated its COVID misinformation policy, but the move has not been well received at the Kremlin.
Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it wanted YouTube to reverse its decision “as soon as possible.”
In a letter to Google, which owns YouTube, Roskomnadzor said it “demanded that all restrictions be lifted.”
Russian Foreign Ministry: ‘Unprecedented information aggression’
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the removal of RT from YouTube as “unprecedented information aggression” in a statement.
The ministry is now considering “a proposal to develop and take retaliatory measures against the YouTube hosting service and the German media.”
Meanwhile, the German government responded to Moscow’s threats, saying it had “nothing to do” with YouTube’s decision.
“Anyone calling for such retaliation does not show a good relationship with freedom of the press,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters, adding that the YouTube action “was not a state measure.”
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