YouTube blocked videos for Russian draft dodgers on request from Roskomnadzor

https://ovd.info/express-news/2024/05/20/youtube-po-trebovaniyu-roskomnadzora-zablokiroval-videoinstrukcii-dlya

by castalian • 2 years ago

50 20 2 years ago

ovd.info

jprd2• 2 years ago

Why is YT still available in Russia?

sega_sai2• 2 years ago

Russian government would be very happy if it wasn't.

jprd2• 2 years ago

Wow - I can't believe I didn't see that perspective before posting. Thanks!

observationist2• 2 years ago

"Why would Google forego a potential source of revenue."

Things like morality and ethics don't play a part in what these big corporations do. There's only profit and loss. If it's illegal, but they will make more than they lose in fines, they'll take the profit. If it's legal, but loses them money, they won't do it.

They're in Russia because it makes them money. If it didn't make them money, they wouldn't be there. This is the framework our society has created within which corporations operate. We could do better, but probably won't, because fixing things like this require time, resources, and coordinating dozens or even hundreds of competing incentives and thousands of relevant actors.

You can stop using Google products. You can advocate for others to do so. More than that is probably not the most effective use of your time. Besides, in ten years, Google might not be around - they've been notoriously unreliable for anything other than gmail, youtube, and search, and have recently dropped the ball, and to me, look like has-been hacks in the AI space.

doix• 2 years ago

Eh, this is pretty cynical. Google doesn't do business in China despite it probably being very lucrative for them. Unlike say, Apple, which gets lots of praise for privacy or whatever. Different companies "sell-out" in different ways.

Honestly, it's probably a good thing for YouTube to be available in Russia. It allows for western media to be seen by their population. If Russians only had access to Russian and Chinese media, the propaganda machine would be much stronger.

Now I'm not saying Google is a charity. They are probably also making money, but there's a non-zero chance someone thought about not cutting them off for non-monetary reasons.

sega_sai2• 2 years ago

I don't think Google is particularly moral, but I do not believe they make any money now in Russia. So you are incorrect in your main thesis. YouTube monetisation was disabled a long time ago and Google was fined for some crazy amount for some imaginary offences. I don't think they sell any services now in Russia.

iudqnolq• 2 years ago

Plenty of big companies have decided to leave Russia because of the invasion. Remember Russia has a tiny economy.

For example, ExonnMobile isn't traditionally known as a company that abandons major profits to virtue signal and yet they abandoned their Russian operators.

iliaznk• 2 years ago

Actually I don't think that Google makes any money from YT in Russia because they disabled ads for Russian users altogether about 2 years ago, and there's no easy way to pay for a premium subscription in Russia since SWIFT stopped working, unless there're other ways it can make money other than those two. And it's very good that they still keep working in Russia anyway, because it provides a platform for alternative views and opinions. As a Russian, I'm really glad we still have YT and surprised it hasn't been blocked.

chatmasta• 2 years ago

Google famously exited China while refusing to censor search results.

glimshe• 2 years ago

YouTube must either respect local laws or leave the country... Which means that they should perhaps stop doing business with totalitarian regimes.

avmich• 2 years ago

Maybe it's better instead to disregard totalitarian regimes' requests?

seoulmetro• 2 years ago

Regimes like Australia and New Zealand?

Huh?

These two countries heavily censor the internet.

tibbydudeza• 2 years ago

Do no evil does not seem so simple anymore.

YouTube blocked videos for Russian draft dodgers on request from Roskomnadzor

Related Stories