YouTube glitches recorded in occupied Crimea

Occupied Crimea has been experiencing YouTube glitches for over a week. Crimeans are mass-installing apps to bypass the block on their devices, reports "Suspilne Crimea", citing the Crimean branch of the international de-occupation movement #LiberateCrimea.

"According to our observations, even the Russian authorities blocking such popular social media as Facebook and Instagram did not cause nearly as many Crimeans to start using VPNs as the YouTube slowdown did. Most Crimeans are not ready to give up watching their favorite channels, which they have been watching for years," the activists said.

In a comment to "Suspilne Crimea", a resident of Sevastopol said that they have been having issues with YouTube since the previous week.

“YouTube is working but no videos are downloading, only with VPN. It started last week. I'm watching with a VPN. Everything is fine with it, without it there is no way to do it now: neither on your phone, nor on your laptop," he said.

Moreover, the Telegram channel "Krymskiy Veter" reported that people in the occupied Yalta and Alushta cities have been reporting glitches with Google Play.

#LiberateCrimea points out that people in Crimea are installing VPN services that allow them to bypass the restrictions.

"Now the majority of Crimeans will have a VPN on their devices, which will automatically lead to an increase in their visiting other previously inaccessible resources, which have been blocked by Roskomnadzor. Consequently, free alternative information will spread among Crimeans. The Kremlin clearly did not expect such a result," writes #LiberateCrimea.

Yet, a source remarks that the Kremlin will step up their efforts to make using VPNs impossible in the territories it controls.

YouTube block in Russia and the territories it occupies

As the IMI reported, the occupied part of Ukraine's Donetsk oblast is seeing a significant drop in YouTube speed due to Russia's policy.

Earlier, Russian media reported that the Russian authorities had informed the largest telecom operators in the country that playback speed of YouTube videos would drop to 128 kilobits per second.

YouTube has faced heavy criticism in Russia for taking down channels that broadcast Russian state media. Russia has also fined Google on many occasions for failing to remove content Russia considers illegal or undesirable.

YouTube blocked the channels of many Russian propagandists following Russia's full-scale invasion into Ukraine.