Putin Accuses Google of Political Manipulation, Criticizes YouTube in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Alphabet’s Google of serving as a political tool for the U.S. government and criticized YouTube for deliberately slowing speeds on the platform in Russia. This comes amid ongoing tensions between Moscow and foreign tech companies over content regulation.

While Russia has blocked social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, it has refrained from banning YouTube, which serves around 50 million Russian users daily. Critics argue that Russian authorities are deliberately disrupting YouTube to limit access to content critical of Putin’s government. Moscow, however, denies this, attributing the issues to Google’s alleged failure to upgrade equipment, a claim contested by the company and experts.

Putin also highlighted the rise of domestic platforms such as VK Video, RuTube, and Telegram but acknowledged that none have rivaled YouTube’s dominance. Since the Ukraine war began, YouTube has blocked millions of videos and thousands of channels, including state-sponsored content. The Kremlin hopes legal pressure on Google will force a policy shift.