Russian internet monitoring services reported a mass outage on the availability of video hosting site YouTube on Thursday as Russian authorities step up criticism of the platform.
Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said there had been thousands of glitches reported about YouTube in Russia. Users said they could only access YouTube via virtual private networks (VPNs).
“YouTube is not working,” one anonymous user said in comments on the site.
Reuters reporters in Russia were unable to access YouTube. The website remained available via some mobile devices.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor also did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
YouTube is one of the last major bastions of free expression on the Russian internet, where the site continues to host materials by Kremlin opponents that have been largely removed from other social media sites popular in Russia.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mass-youtube-outage-russia-escalating-official-criticism-rcna165733