“They will lead differently”: Putin on government on Google and Youtube
Western Internet services will refuse to promote a provocative anti-Russian agenda if they realize that they may lose their market share, and the Russian Federation has something to replace foreign companies with.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this during a conversation with leaders of Russian media, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We will not curtail anything until we have our own. And we will curtail it when we have our own; if we do something, it will only be based on specific situations. In my opinion, when our colleagues see that there is an alternative, that they do not occupy a monopoly position in this market, they will behave differently,” Putin said.
He emphasized that a ban on foreign media platforms will only occur if they carry out hostile actions against the Russian state.
“For example, I have no desire to artificially screw or tighten anything, but when some hostile actions are carried out, I do not rule it out. Hostile actions against our country are unacceptable. But we will not do anything that would create problems for our citizens and users. It’s just artificial, because we don’t like them or something bad they wrote about some boss, no, of course,” the president said.
According to Putin, Russia’s enemies are trying to use the worsening economic situation due to the pandemic to destabilize it.
“In all countries of the world, including here, people feel tired and accumulated irritation occurs. Dissatisfaction arises, including with regard to the conditions in which they live and the level of their income. The person's life became worse. Whatever you say: a pandemic, not a pandemic, life is worse. Who is guilty? Bosses. Well, that’s the lot of management, there’s nothing you can do about it. And, of course, they are trying to take advantage of this,” said the head of state.
Let us remind you that earlier the State Duma said that unauthorized rallies in Russia on January 23 and 31 in support of the arrested Navalny were promoted by foreign social networks and information resources working in the interests of the West. Participation in destabilization from the territory of Ukraine was also recorded.
Let us note that the opposition’s statements about the ineffectiveness of fines and the threat of blocking are refuted by the successful experience of Turkey, a country that has recently demonstrated an independent policy.
In November, Turkey fined Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Periscope, Youtube and TikTok 10 million Turkish lira ($1,18 million) each for failing to appoint representatives in Ankara, as required by a new law that came into force on 1 October.
The fines were introduced after the network giants were only two days late in complying with the law.
Subsequently, if they failed to comply with the requirements of the Turkish side within 30 days from the date of notification of the first fine, the companies were threatened with new sanctions of 30 million Turkish liras. And then – traffic limitation from 50 to 90%.
As a result, in mid-December it became known that Youtube decided to appoint a representative of the platform in Turkey, as required by the new Turkish law on social networks. According to Youtube’s statement, the company will be represented in the republic by a legal entity.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.