Russian internet monitoring services announced a massive shutdown of access to YouTube on Thursday, which comes as Russian authorities step up criticism of the platform.
Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said it had reported thousands of cases of problems using the YouTube site in Russia.
Users said they could only access YouTube through VPN.
“YouTube is not working,” said an anonymous user commenting on the site.
Reuters reporters in Russia were unable to access YouTube. Some users of the platform managed to gain access through mobile devices.
Google, which owns YouTube, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Russia's main state agency that oversees traffic, Roskomnadzor, also did not respond to a request for comment.
YouTube is one of the last bastions of free speech online in Russia, where Kremlin opponents continue to post material that has been largely banned by other popular Russian social media sites.
The site's download speed has slowed significantly in recent weeks, which Russian lawmakers have blamed on Google, something the company has denied.
Alexander Khinshtein, head of a parliamentary committee on information policy, warned last month that the speed of the YouTube platform would be slowed by up to 70%.
He said this slowdown was “a necessary step, directed not against Russian users, but against the company of a foreign source that still believes it can violate and ignore our legislation with impunity.”
Mr. Khinshtein later suggested that the slowdown occurred because Google had not invested in Russian infrastructure, such as its local servers, a claim that YouTube denied.
A YouTube spokesperson said last week that the company was aware of reports that some users were unable to access YouTube in Russia. He clarified that this was not the result of any action for technical reasons on the part of the platform.
