YouTube access cut off in Russia, IT experts report

YouTube traffic in Russia has dropped to just 20% of its usual rate, leading IT experts to conclude that the platform has effectively been blocked, even though no official announcement has been made.

«YouTube traffic continues to decline. Google’s monitoring service now reports a traffic score of 8.5 from the Russian Federation, down from 40 points before the ‘slowdown.’ This indicates that traffic is currently at only 20% of its normal level. This is not mere throttling but a real blocking. We can confirm: YouTube is effectively blocked in Russia,» IT expert Mikhail Klimarev stated.

According to Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet, Russia’s authorities intensified efforts to slow down YouTube on Dec. 19.

«Previously, there were 10,000 complaints per day following the slowdown; now, that number exceeds 40,000 daily,» reported a representative of a Russian telecom operator.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator, has blamed YouTube for the new slowdown, citing problems with the platform’s hosting provider.

This latest development follows the disruption of YouTube access on computers in Russia during the summer of 2024. At that time, attempts to access the platform resulted in browsers displaying a «no internet connection» message.