Several hundred people, including pro-Kremlin singer Shaman, gathered in front of the US embassy in Moscow on Friday evening to protest YouTube’s blocking of some Russian channels on the American video site, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.
A Russian flag was projected onto the walls of the US embassy in the Russian capital, a Ria Novosti correspondent reported.
According to this source, the sound system was playing several songs, including I am Russianby Shaman, the new star of the big “patriotic” concerts organized by the Kremlin to exalt the idea of the “greatness” of Russia in the midst of the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Shaman was at the scene, according to Ria Novosti, after saying earlier on Friday he wanted to hold a rally against the blocking of some Russian YouTube channels, which he considered “illegal.”
“No one will ban our songs,” the singer, a fervent supporter of Vladimir Putin, said before the rally.
Gatherings that are nevertheless prohibited
Gatherings in the Russian capital are almost all banned — except those organized by the Kremlin, notably to criticize the West — officially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, amid growing repression of dissenting voices.
In Russia, people who participate in gatherings banned by the authorities face harsh penalties.
The European Commission announced several weeks ago that it was placing Shaman under sanctions because of his support for the Russian military offensive in Ukraine launched in February 2022. His YouTube channel was blocked in early July.
On Tuesday, Russia asked Google to unblock more than 200 Russian channels on YouTube, which had been suspended for Kremlin “propaganda.”
The Russian authorities, which continue to see this as “Russophobia”, have considerably strengthened their control over the Internet since the start of their assault on Ukraine in February 2022, banning a number of sites where Kremlin critics could express themselves freely, such as Facebook and Instagram.
YouTube has never been blocked, but rumors of its ban resurface regularly, especially since in March 2022, the Roskomnadzor authority accused Google and YouTube of “terrorist” activities.