from Hacker News

Agency: YouTube blocks opposition content at the request of Russian authorities

by wildylion on 5/20/24, 12:08 PM with 3 comments

  • by qwery on 5/20/24, 12:48 PM

    As much as one wishes this sort of thing wouldn't happen, it's hardly surprising. Taking a somewhat mercenary view of the practice[0], a multinational business should not be able to circumvent the law (loosely speaking) of a region in which they wish to operate. I'd expect most people think businesses (especially foreign ones) should have to follow the relevant local laws.

    I don't mean to draw a direct comparison, but I think it's worth remembering that Youtube is usually eager to restrict content at the behest of other corporations as well. To Youtube, the messages/content they allow is completely arbitrary. Any sufficiently large/powerful entity can influence what is allowed on the platform. The Russian authorities and Nintendo are two such entities.

    [0] i.e. social media or websites enforcing a government's censorship policy/whims

  • by wildylion on 5/20/24, 12:08 PM

    YouTube has blocked three videos on military service evasion from the channels “Dozor in Volgograd”, “Conscript School” and another independent regional media outlet in Russia. The video hosting also notified about the threat of blocking the channel “OVD-Info”, which may be the first case of blocking an entire channel. YouTube has not blocked opposition content at the request of the Russian authorities before, a cybersecurity expert who wished to remain unnamed told the Agency (a Russian opposition-controlled media outlet).

  • by wildylion on 5/20/24, 12:09 PM