Blocking Of Russian Media's YouTube Channels Should Be Considered Act Of Censorship - HRC

Blocking of Russian Media's YouTube Channels Should Be Considered Act of Censorship - HRC

Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), said on Thursday that the blocking of several Russian media channels on YouTube should be recognized as an act of censorship, which is banned by the Russian constitution

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2020) Valery Fadeyev, the head of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), said on Thursday that the blocking of several Russian media channels on YouTube should be recognized as an act of censorship, which is banned by the Russian constitution.

In July, YouTube blocked the channels of Russian news agencies and broadcasters Tsargrad, Anna News, News Front and Crimea 24.

"We must fight and we must recognize that this is censorship and to proceed from this. And [we must] ensure that Google works within the framework of the Russian legislation. How can we do this? We need a plan, we need to discuss it with the State Duma and the Federation Council.

This is the plan for such legal actions. The Council for Civil Society Development and Human Rights is, of course, ready to engage in such actions," Fadeyev said at a roundtable on potential threats to the state's digital sovereignty by Western tech giants.

According to the HRC chief, the right way to prevent the blocking of Russian media is to force foreign tech companies to operate in Russian and comply with the country's laws.

In early August, Fadeyev appealed to Google, YouTube's parent company, in relation to the blocking of the Russian media channels. The company responded that it did not administer the YouTube service and could not provide information on the block.