Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has demanded that Google cease promoting livestreams of demonstrations with push notifications, a day after “tens of thousands” of Russians “staged what observers called the country’s biggest political protest for eight years on Saturday,” Reuters reported.
In a statement, Roskomnadzor warned Google that in the event they do not receive a response, the “Russian Federation will regard this as interference in the sovereign affairs of the state, as well as a hostile influence and obstructing the holding of democratic elections in Russia, leaving the right to an adequate reaction.” The agency characterized Google as promoting “illegal mass events” by allowing “a number of structures with YouTube channels” to use advertising tools including push notifications. But as Al Jazeera noted, the protest on Saturday which apparently directed the agency’s ire towards Google (with organizers claiming some streams reached 50,000 people or more) was approved by the Russian government.
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Source: Russia Demands Google Cease Sending YouTube Push Notifications for Protest Livestreams | Gizmodo