Kremlin Slams Removal of RT YouTube Channels as Censorship, Media Obstruction
09:33 GMT 29.09.2021 (Updated: 11:59 GMT 29.09.2021)
© Sputnik / Yevgeny Biyatov
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On Tuesday, YouTube blocked two German RT channels without indicating the possibility that it would reverse the decision.
Moscow slams the removal of RT YouTube channels as censorship and media obstruction, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He added that if Russian authorities establish that the blocking of the channels constitutes a violation of Russian law, it's possible that enforcement measures could be taken against the Google-owned online video sharing platform.
"Of course, there are signs that Russian laws have been violated, violated very rudely, as this, of course, is associated with censorship, and with obstruction of the media information dissemination. If our supervisory authorities come to the conclusion that this is, indeed, a violation of our legislation, then, of course, we cannot, we should not exclude the possibility of taking measures to force this platform to comply with our laws," Peskov said.
Russia's permanent delegation to UNESCO has called on the organisation to react to the censorship of Youtube's German RT channels.
🔊 We urge @UNESCO to immediately respond to the flagrant censorship and suppression of freedom of expression following the deletion of "RT DE" and "Der Fehlende Part" accounts. pic.twitter.com/dzhIPbo3Yj
— RussianMissionUNESCO (@unesco_russia) September 29, 2021
Meanwhile, the German government has said that it had nothing to do with RT Deutsch YouTube channel's removal and it was the platform's decision.
"This is a YouTube's decision against RT and, I believe, one more channel, which is based on YouTube rules. We are taking note of this. Obviously, the affected channels have opportunities to oppose this. We are taking note of this, but these are not some governmental measures, they were not implemented by the German government. I have to clearly refute this, as we hear relevant claims," cabinet spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a briefing.
Earlier in the day, Sputnik and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan urged Russian lawmakers to toughen punishment for global IT giants that censor the content posted by Russian media outlets.
On Tuesday, Simonyan said that YouTube had permanently removed the two German accounts of Russia's RT broadcaster. She added that one of the deleted accounts, Berlin-based RT Deutsch (RT DE), ranked fourth among German-language media in terms of influence, hitting 21 million views in June.
