Russian video hosting RuTube removed from App Store

YouTube logo. Stock photo: Getty Images

RuTube, a video hosting service promoted by the Russian authorities as a replacement for YouTube, has vanished from the App Store.

Source: Radio Liberty’s Russian Service

Details: RuTube confirmed that their app had been removed from the App Store.

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“This was due to sanctions imposed by the American company [i.e. App Store], which made it difficult for users to access our services via the mobile application,” the video hosting service said in a statement.

Background: 

• Earlier, Russian authorities ordered all major telecommunication operators in the country to slow down the speed of video playback on YouTube to 128 kilobits per second.
• On 8 August, Russian YouTube users started complaining about the complete shutdown of the video hosting service.
• The Kremlin-controlled VK corporation has begun developing a new “national messenger” to replace the WhatsApp app, which Russian authorities may block this autumn.
• Russian users of the Signal messenger app encountered issues with the service. Subsequently, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications and Information Technology (Roskomnadzor) announced that access to Signal in Russia had been restricted. The agency cited “violations of the legislation on combating terrorism and extremism” as the reason for the decision.

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