YouTube blocks two Russian bands and radio channels

The Russian company “Russia Media Group” reported on Monday, January 24, that the American video company “YouTube” has blocked the accounts of the Russian radio station “Russian Radio” and the Russian music group “Zemlyani”.

In the middle of the New Year holidays, “YouTube” blocked the “Russian Radio” channel, and the official reason given by the management of “YouTube” was to violate the laws and rules in force in the music community.
However, after a detailed analysis of what happened, it became clear that YouTube had blocked the two radio channels of “Russian Radio” and the “Zemilyani Band” under a far-fetched and baseless pretext.

The company “Russia Media Group” explained that the reason for the blocking was a complaint filed by an unknown company that published on “YouTube” the video and music materials before they appeared on the channel “Russian Radio”. It is noteworthy that “YouTube” ignored providing proof of reserved rights for those materials and blocked the two channels.

“We hope that the YouTube administration took this decision as a result of being misled by a competitor, and not within the framework of ideological censorship,” the statement read.

The statement added that “Russia Media Group”, as one of the national media, specializes in the propaganda of Russian culture and the Russian language. “Blocking a channel such as “Russian Radio” deprives millions of Internet users of content important to them,” the statement added.

The Russian company also expressed its hope that the management of “YouTube” will realize the miscalculation of its decision and abandon the blocking of the channels of Russian radio and the music group “Zamliani”.

At the same time, the Russian company did not rule out submitting an official complaint to the Russian “Roscomnadzor” committee to draw attention to “an act of censorship and illegal restriction of freedom of expression by an American company operating in Russia.”

It is noteworthy that the group “Zemlyani” (People of the Globe), which was founded in 1978, was one of the first Soviet rock groups. She became famous after performing the song “Weeds near the house”, which was sung by the Soviet and Russian cosmonauts before their launch into space.