The YouTube administration has restricted access to opposition television channels ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne, which had previously come under the sanctions of the National Defense and Security Council (NSDC).

This is stated in a joint statement by these media outlets, which blamed the office of the President of Ukraine for the situation.

“The Ukrainian authorities have involved YouTube in their illegal actions, effectively forcing the international media platform to restrict Ukrainian consumers from accessing their favorite YouTube channels.

We consider such actions of the authorities to be illegal, devoid of any sense and simply stupid for a number of reasons, ”ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne reported.

As the media explained, the administration of the video service did not completely block the work of their YouTube channels.

Nevertheless, ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne nevertheless launched "alternative broadcasting" - three new platforms on the American video hosting were opened by the Pershy Nezalezhniy TV channel, which the Ukrainian authorities had previously also disconnected from the air.

Representatives of TV channels are especially outraged by the fact that in the face of critical internal problems, the Kiev authorities continue to focus on the fight against opposition media.

As noted by the journalists, the current leadership of Ukraine ignores the daily shelling of civilians in Donbass, the stalled vaccination against the coronavirus, "universal corruption" and a shortage of diesel fuel, which can lead to a halt in railway traffic.

"Decision made in principle"

At the moment, Volodymyr Zelensky did not comment on the situation with the restriction of the opposition media's access to YouTube's capabilities.  

However, as Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, wrote on his Telegram channel, YouTube content of ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne is not available in the country "because of the government's complaint about its illegality."

“I am grateful to the specialists of the YouTube platform, who drew attention to our appeal and the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine regarding TV channels that posed a threat to the national security of Ukraine,” Tkachenko said.

  • RIA News

In turn, a source of RT in the NSDC explained that after the blocking of TV channels in cable networks, YouTube remained the only platform for permanent video broadcasting, but in fact it is now inaccessible.

“I think that

nothing will help

them (TV channels -

RT

) to resume broadcasting, including re-registration by opening new legal entities.

A principled decision was made to ban the operation of these TV channels on the territory of Ukraine, at least until the end of Zelensky's presidency, ”says the interlocutor of RT.

According to the head of the youth wing of the OPLZ party, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Artyom Marchevsky, YouTube deprived Ukrainian users of access to channels "due to daily requests from the office of the President of Ukraine."

According to the opposition political forces, Vladimir Zelensky and Alexander Tkachenko personally supervised the issue of blocking on the American video hosting.

“The president of a country in which fighting has been going on for seven years, in which pensioners are dying of hunger, a country where utility bills can exceed their pension, where vaccinations have been completely failed, where, in fact, there are no roads and medicine, there are no police and education - he is fighting with YouTube channels.

An absurdity, ”the press service of the youth wing of the OPSZ quotes Marchevsky.

According to the deputy, the opposition media are not going to stop their activities and will continue to uncover illegal enrichment schemes for the current authorities in the areas of purchases, cashing in funds, smuggling, trade in coal, gas and coronavirus vaccines.

Commenting on the restriction on broadcasting on YouTube ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne, Marchevsky said that an appeal against this decision had already been sent to the administration of the platform.

YouTube hasn't responded yet.

Recall that since the beginning of February, sanctions of the Ukrainian state have been in effect against ZIK, 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and their owner, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the OPLZ party, Taras Kozak.

As Zelensky said earlier, restrictive measures were introduced because the TV channels contained "information armies" that allegedly misled Ukrainian citizens on key issues for the country - land reform, utility tariffs and the war in Donbass.

Zelensky was particularly outraged by the narrative of ZIK, 112 Ukraine, NewsOne about the fact that in 2014 a civil conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine, and not a war with Russia, as official Kiev claims.

At the same time, the Ukrainian leader denies that the restrictions were a response to criticism of his policies.

The restrictions imposed by Kiev led to the disconnection of opposition media from the broadcasting network and found support in the United States and the G7 countries.

In turn, experts interviewed by RT believe that the Kiev authorities had no legal basis to impose sanctions against Ukrainian citizens and organizations.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • © Press service of the President of Ukraine

As noted by a RT source in the President's Office, Zelensky fears that the continuation of the work of opposition television channels will lead to a further decrease in his rating and the strengthening of the position of OLE.  

“The President is strongly criticized by ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne.

At the same time, the positions of HLE are strengthened.

All this cannot but worry Zelensky, who, moreover, is going to run for a second term.

Therefore, the persecution of TV channels began, "says the interlocutor of RT.

For its part, a RT source in the Batkivshchyna party claims that Kiev's western partners are loyal to the suppression of alternative points of view.

According to the deputy, in Ukraine, almost any media outlet that criticizes Zelensky's work runs the risk of being closed.

“Throughout the world, viewers gain access to alternative opinions - this is the foundation of democracy.

In Ukraine, everything is different.

As a result, the TV channels were to blame for all the failures.

And the West has long turned a blind eye to all this, ”the interlocutor of RT stated.

"In line with anti-Russian policy"

In a conversation with RT, Rostislav Ischenko, president of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting, suggested that ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne could switch to broadcasting on the First Nezalezhny platform if pressure on them continues from the authorities and YouTube.

“As far as I remember, the journalists of these TV channels united in February to form the Pershy Nezalezhniy TV channel, which, at least for now, is quietly appearing on YouTube.

In any case, the final decisions will be made by the owners of these media outlets, ”says Ishchenko.

Political scientist Oleksandr Dudchak, in an interview with RT, explained the blacklisting of ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne by Zelensky's course of a tough fight against dissent and the growing popularity of HLE.

“Now YouTube has actually played along with the discriminatory policy of Kiev, although what Zelensky is doing is correctly called terror in the information sphere.

The Ukrainian authorities are trying to block broadcasting channels for unwanted media outlets, but I think that nevertheless journalists will find an opportunity to broadcast their programs to the Ukrainian audience, ”says Dudchak.

At the same time, the political scientist is sure that the president's office and other state structures of Ukraine will not stop putting pressure on ZIK, 112 Ukraine and NewsOne.

According to Dudchak, the ultimate goal of such a policy is a complete cessation of broadcasting to a Russian-speaking audience sympathetic to them.

  • Office of the TV channel "112 Ukraine"

  • RIA News

According to the expert, the attack of the Kiev authorities on the opposition media is fueled by the fact that Europe is once again ignoring the violation of freedom of speech in Ukraine.

Alexander Dudchak called the current YouTube decision a consequence of censorship in the interests of the United States, which supports Kiev's actions on the front against "pro-Russian forces."

“I disagree with the fact that YouTube has been led by the Ukrainian authorities.

This information service, along with Twitter and Facebook, is working on the implementation of scenarios for color revolutions.

If we talk about Ukraine, then here we are seeing work in line with the anti-Russian policy.

Both YouTube and the Ukrainian authorities are essentially acting on instructions from Washington, ”says Dudchak.

A similar view is shared by Vladimir Olenchenko, Senior Researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAS.

In a conversation with RT, he noted that YouTube's work in Ukraine is not aimed at defending ideas of pluralism, but mainly at serving the interests of the White House.

“There is no need to talk about any objectivity and defense of the right to broadcast different points of view.

This is precisely the policy of censoring that is observed in relation to Ukraine, ”concluded Olenchenko.