By Vladimir Soldatkin and Alexander Marrow
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Alphabet’s Google of being a tool used by the U.S. government to score political points and blamed YouTube for slowing speeds on the video hosting platform in Russia.
Google, along with other foreign tech firms, has been under pressure in Russia for several years over the content it distributes, but while Moscow has blocked social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, it appears reluctant to ban YouTube, used by around 50 million Russians every day.
Critics believe YouTube is being deliberately disrupted by the authorities to prevent Russians from viewing content there that is critical of Putin and his government.
Russia denies that, saying the issues are caused by Google’s failure to upgrade equipment – a charge disputed by the company and technology experts.
Putin, addressing Russians in his annual phone-in, reiterated Moscow’s stance that Google, having reduced spending in Russia and the supply of relevant equipment, had created problems for itself.
“Secondly, YouTube and Google must observe our laws, must avoid any kind of deception on the internet and especially, must not use and abuse the internet to achieve their government’s political goals,” Putin said.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
YouTube in August said it was aware of reports that some people were unable to access YouTube in Russia, but that this was not because of any actions or technical issues on its part.
Putin said competition was growing, naming domestic platforms VK Video, run by state-controlled VK, and RuTube, as well as Telegram, founded by Russian Pavel Durov. None of those platforms has managed to significantly eat into YouTube’s market share in terms of video hosting.
In addition to hosting content Moscow objects to, YouTube has blocked more than 1,000 YouTube channels, including state-sponsored news, and over 5.5 million videos, since the war in Ukraine began.
The Kremlin hopes that huge legal claims racking up against Google will force it to change its stance.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy Faulconbridge)
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