The fate of YouTube in Russia

Hello! Our main story this week is how YouTube has fared in Russia in the year since authorities started blocking it — and what its future could be. We also pay tribute to Derk Sauer, one of the founding fathers of Russian independent media, who died last week, aged 72.

Russia blocks YouTube: One year later

It has been one year since Russia started undertaking the most decisive step yet to censor the internet — a forced slowdown of YouTube that severely limits Russians’ ability to use the video platform without a VPN. The site has since lost almost 30 million active users, cutting its daily audience in half, with total Russian traffic having fallen fivefold. Despite that, the Russian alternative — under the control of VK and Putin’s pal Yury Kovalchuk — has been unable to capitalize on the advantage gifted by the Kremlin. Even a hobbled YouTube remains the most popular video platform for Russian advertisers. 

Forced slowdown

The first signs that Russia was forcibly slowing down Google-owned YouTube were spotted back in late July 2024. At the start of August that year, communications watchdog Roskomnadzor started seriously targeting YouTube and the platform’s daily traffic fell sharply.

According to Mediascope, YouTube’s Russian audience dropped from more than 96 million monthly users in July 2024 to 79 million in April of this year, the latest month for which it has published figures. In terms of the most active users, the platform has lost 30 million daily watchers, with daily reach dropping from 55.7 million to 27.5 million.