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Russian authorities are not currently considering blocking Google in the country, officials in Moscow indicated amid measures to restrict its video-sharing platform YouTube.
The statements also come against the backdrop of the full blocking of Meta’s WhatsApp in Russia and attempts to slow down the popular messenger Telegram, used by millions of Russians.
Google ban to affect majority of Russian smartphones running on Android
Russia has no immediate plans to block the world’s leading search engine, Google, announced Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Policy at the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament.
“As for big statements about bans, there are in fact no such plans. I specifically asked the regulators about it,” Gorelkin wrote in a post on Russia’s “national” messenger Max.
Quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS on Thursday, the lawmaker explained:
“A ban would clearly entail an entire set of negative consequences, primarily affecting the performance of the Android operating system, on which 60% of Russians’ smartphones run.”
The lawmaker then acknowledged that a move like that is unlikely to make Google pay the fines imposed in lawsuits filed by Russian firms against the American company.
“Especially because the story is not over yet as hearings continue in foreign courts and various legal mechanisms are being employed,” the deputy elaborated.
Even if the fines cannot be collected in full, if Google is spared a Russian blockade, the parties in these cases would still be able to reach an agreement on reasonable terms, Gorelkin pointed out.
If Russia ever moves to abandon Google services, it should do that gradually, he suggested, adding that, in his view, “legislative conditions need to be created for a smooth transition to domestic solutions.”
Cutting access to Google deemed feasible but inappropriate
Blocking Google in Russia is currently inappropriate, according to Andrey Svintsov, another deputy chairman of the same committee at the Duma.
Speaking to the Govorit Moskva radio, he noted that while this is possible in terms of technology, there’s no reason to do that at the present time, elaborating:
“In my opinion, it is quite technically feasible. I’m not sure it’s necessary right now.”
He reminded that Russia’s telecom watchdog, Roskomnadzor (RKN), is also counting on Google’s return to Russia to collect money from the company for the fines it has imposed.
YouTube bears full brunt of Russian restrictions
Meanwhile, Google’s sister company YouTube was among those affected by the latest punitive measures taken by the regulator against foreign-based internet platforms.
Earlier this week, its domain was removed from Roskomnadzor’s DNS servers, effectively cutting access to the leading video-sharing platform, traffic to which had been already throttled down.
Both Google and YouTube, which is the planet’s second-largest search engine, are owned by the U.S. tech giant Alphabet Inc.
The same happened with WhatsApp, the messaging service of the owner of the social media networks Facebook and Instagram, Meta. The latter has been designated as an “extremist” organization in Russia.
Meanwhile, the Telegram messenger, which is used by millions in Russia, including institutions and officials, was slowed down. RKN limited voice calls through both apps in August. In all recent cases, incompliance with Russian law was cited as the main reason for the measures.
In a broad interview with TASS, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that the full services of the messengers may be restored only after they start complying with Moscow’s terms, while he also pitched the state-approved Max as an alternative.
At the same time, a report by the business news portal RBC, quoting experts in the field, revealed that Russia’s firewall simply doesn’t have the capacity to block all these major platforms at once.
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