The Foreign Ministry called on specialized international organizations and human rights activists to respond to the blocking of the accounts of the TV channel “Tsargrad” by Google services. The corresponding statement was published on the ministry’s website on July 28.
“Without warning and explanation of the reasons, the official account of the TV channel“ Tsargrad ”in the video hosting YouTube with an audience of more than a million subscribers and related channels“ News of Tsargrad ”and“ Two-headed eagle ”was blocked at night with the wording“ without the possibility of recovery ”, – the message says.
The channel’s editors were also denied access to Google services.
In addition, at the same time, YouTube has blocked the accounts of a number of Russian experts holding views similar to the principles of editorial policy of “Tsargrad”, the department said.
“The administration of the video hosting has neglected its own rules to send a warning about a violation indicating specific points of the user agreement that were not followed,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the incident.
The Google administration does not respond to numerous requests from the TV channel.
Zakharova called on relevant international organizations and the human rights community to respond to this incident.
This is not the first time Google has blocked Russian media. On May 20, the accounts of one of the leading Crimean TV channels “Crimea 24” and information agencies Anna News and News Front were deleted. Earlier, the resource of the “Federal News Agency” was blocked. In this context, it is no coincidence that the Russian Foreign Ministry sees the removal in March 2020 of more than 300 accounts of Russian origin on Facebook and Twitter.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman called Google’s actions an example of political censorship and a violation of freedom of expression and the principle of equal access to information. “The American monopolists of the technology market are once again following the lead of official Washington, which is conducting an unscrupulous campaign to cleanse the global information field from Russian sources,” she concluded.
Earlier, in April, it was reported that the YouTube channel was blocked with an address by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 25. The YouTube video service has restored access to the appeal. The decision to block the Google press service was explained by a mistake.