Riyaz Patel
Russia’s communications watchdog, Roscomnadzor, has asked Google to stop advertising what it termed “illegal mass events” on its YouTube video platform.
Tens of thousands of Russians staged widely dubbed the country’s biggest political protest for eight years Saturday, defying a crackdown to demand free elections to Moscow’s city legislature.
Multiple YouTube channels broadcast the event live.
Roscomnadzor said some entities had been buying advertising tools from YouTube, such as push notifications, in order to spread information about illegal mass protests, including those aimed at disrupting elections.
It said Russia would consider a failure by Google to respond to the request as “interference in its sovereign affairs” and “hostile influence (over) and obstruction of democratic elections in Russia.”
If the company does not take measures to prevent
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