Russian censor Roskomnadzor sent a letter to Google warning that if it did not quickly restore YouTube's two RT channels, it would face a full or partial lockdown, according to Russian state news agencies that published parts of the letter on Wednesday.
YouTube this week removed the two channels RT, RT DE and Der Fehlende Part, for posting what it said was misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. YouTube in a statement said that RT DE had initially received a one-week suspension, preventing it from uploading videos because it had violated disinformation rules.
But the platform said RT DE then tried to circumvent the restriction by using the other channel, Der Fehlende Part, to upload videos, a violation of YouTube's user terms, which resulted in the permanent ban on both channels.
The Russian government has responded with fury and a torrent of threats of retaliation. On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the deletions an "unprecedented act of informational aggression" and called on the state censor to take action against YouTube and German media in Russia.
RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan claimed the bans amounted to a "real media war" by Germany against Russia and said she was "waiting" for Russia to ban the major German public television networks ARD, ZDF and Deutsche Welle. .
Germany's government said on Wednesday it had nothing to do with YouTube's decision to remove RT channels and criticized Russia's threats to retaliate against German media.
"I want to say in no uncertain terms that this is a YouTube decision, and the German government, or representatives of the German government, have nothing to do with this decision," Steffan Seibert, a spokesman for the German government, told reporters. to Euronews.
Seibert said that anyone calling for retaliation against the German media "does not show a good relationship with press freedom, from our point of view."
Russian authorities have tried to pressure German state media in Russia for the past two years amid a broader crackdown on free media. Russian officials have publicly threatened to withdraw the accreditation of Deutsche Welle, the foreign-focused public news agency, which has a service in Russian.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that by blocking RT channels, "there are signs" that YouTube has "seriously" violated Russian laws.
He told reporters that if the Russian law enforcement agencies came to the same conclusion, it could not be excluded that measures could be taken to "force this platform to comply with our laws."
The threats to block YouTube come amid a growing campaign by Russian authorities to pressure US tech companies, as the Kremlin seeks to take tighter control of the Internet in Russia.
Just over a week ago, Google and Apple yielded to the demands of the Kremlin to remove some content related to a tactical voting campaign promoted by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny during Russia's parliamentary elections.
Google removed an app and two YouTube videos related to the campaign, called Smart Voting.
The move was seen as the biggest concession the tech giants have made to the Kremlin's demands to remove content from opponents and has alarmed liberal Russians that it is a step toward getting companies to accept broader censorship in Russia.
Apple and Google have largely declined to comment on the matter except to indicate that they were following local laws.
Russia's government has lobbied Google, Facebook and Twitter for years to remove more content critical of the government of President Vladimir Putin, imposing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines on companies. But the Kremlin failed to block the platforms, partly because it lacked the technical capacity to do so and because it feared a backlash at home and internationally.
However, some experts believe that the calculus has changed and that the government is now prepared to take a hard line. Since the beginning of this year, Roskomnadzor has slowed down Twitter, which causes videos and photos to load poorly.
Google, in particular, has faced increased pressure in recent weeks. In the days before the company removed the content of Navalny's vote, bailiffs visited his Moscow office to demand unpaid fines imposed by the censor. Representatives of Google and Apple were also summoned before a committee of the Russian Senate, where the companies were accused of allowing "electoral interference." The New York Times reported that Google removed Navalny's materials after Russian authorities threatened to prosecute specific employees at its Moscow office.
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