Russian internet monitoring services reported a significant mass YouTube outage across the country on Thursday, as tensions between Russian authorities and the video-sharing platform escalated.
According to the internet monitoring service Sboi.rf, thousands of disruptions were reported by users who found themselves unable to access YouTube. Many users noted that the platform was only reachable through virtual private networks (VPNs). “YouTube is not working,” one anonymous user commented on the monitoring site.
Reuters reporters in Russia confirmed they were unable to access YouTube on most devices, although some mobile users were still able to connect. Neither Google, the owner of YouTube, nor Russia’s state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, immediately responded to requests for comment on the mass youtube outage.
YouTube remains one of the few major platforms for free expression on the Russian internet, continuing to host content from Kremlin critics that has been scrubbed from other popular social media sites in the country.
Recently, users have noticed a significant slowdown in YouTube’s download speeds, a change that Russian lawmakers have attributed to Google. Alexander Khinshtein, head of the parliamentary committee on information policy, warned last month that YouTube speeds could drop by up to 70%. He described this slowdown as “a necessary step, directed not against Russian users, but against the administration of a foreign resource that still believes it can violate and ignore our legislation without punishment.”
Khinshtein blamed the slowdown on Google’s alleged failure to invest in Russian infrastructure, such as local cache servers—a claim that YouTube has denied. Last week, a YouTube spokesperson acknowledged the reports of access issues in Russia but clarified that the platform was not responsible for any technical problems.
As the situation continues to unfold, the growing strain between YouTube and Russian authorities could have broader implications for internet freedom in the country.