Russia warns Alphabet to stop threatening Russians on YouTube

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been running for a month now. The U.S., E.U. and all other countries are worried about the event. The U.S. tech companies are given direct instruction to sanction Russia, and its effect is pretty drastic.

The Russia Ukraine war is the centre of attention today. Before that, most headlines were made on coronavirus. When we thought the world started to get normal again, the war started. The soviet union is being cut off from the U.S., U.K. tech to restrict Russian users from accessing content outside their borders.

Various online services, such as cloud, IT, social media, search engines, software, stopped serving the Russian people because of the sanctions. On Friday, Russia demanded Alphabet Inc., parent of Google and YouTube, to prevent spreading threats against Russian people. Global search engine Google, and the biggest video sharing platform globally, YouTube will have a drastic effect on the country.

Facebook and Instagram from Meta are already blocked in Russia. Google is under pressure. People can do without social media channels, but it would be pretty tricky without the biggest search engine for information and video platforms. Even though there are alternatives for social media and search engines, there is no practical alternative to Alphabet products.

On the other hand, Russia is developing their version of social media. A Russian version of Instagram is already being developed, but replicating search engines is different. If information's are blocked from the search engine, it would be of no use.

An announcement came to Alphabet directly from Russia, demanding threat removal against Russian citizens. Roskomnadzor, the regulator, said they "were calling for the communications system of Russia and Belarus' railway network to be suspended. Their dissemination was evidence of the U.S. company's anti-Russian position." The notice here is a direct quote from Reuters. The regulator also talked about regulations taken by YouTube's administration. The regulator called them of "terrorist nature and threatened the life and health of Russian citizens."

Life in both war conflicted countries has not been easy. Bombs and tanks are ruining the lives of the Ukrainian people. On the flip side, Russian people are also falling under global consequences. These are the results of the war, and it destroyed countries' economies and development made throughout the years.

Sources declined to take credit but reported Google removing advertisements flagged by the Russian government. Roskomnadzor opposes this kind of "advertisement campaign."

After Instagram's blockade on Russia, tech entrepreneurs are set to launch a picture-sharing application domestically. It will help fill the void left by social media platforms. The new Instagram-like social media is named Rossgram and will launch on 28th March.

On Friday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev criticised foreign social media firms, especially U.S. born ones. Specific mentions were Meta and YouTube. The consequences are impacting people directly and showing them the drastic effect of taking on the most significant achievement of the tech era.

Medvedev said Russia would bring out alternative platforms to develop their social media version as Western firms long dominate it. He also said the information flow is a one-way game and cannot continue. When Instagram was blocked in Russia, their daily domestic audience grew by 8.7 per cent. The 50 million is a new record, which the authorities welcome.

To rival video-sharing platform TikTok, Gazprom Media launched Yappy as a domestic rival. It was established in November. The free speech platform affected by sanctions is required to lift business from Russia. Otherwise, the proper ruling is not going to be implemented.

On the other hand, alternative media channels may give people more power towards free speech and independence. However, the consequences of the ongoing war are dire and get worst day by day. It is the general people of both countries who are suffering the most.