From YouTube to boob tube How the Kremlin’s slow-motion YouTube block pushed Russians back into the arms of television
Last summer, the Russian authorities began throttling YouTube playback speeds, rendering the popular video platform practically unusable. YouTube videos began taking a long time to load — if they loaded at all — and it soon became all but impossible to watch anything without a VPN. By December 2024, YouTube traffic in Russia had dropped to 20 percent of normal levels, and experts deemed the platform de facto blocked. In the year since the “slowdown” began, YouTube has maintained a large chunk of its audience in Russia. However, the throttling of this genuinely popular video platform has pushed many Russians to change their media consumption habits. Meduza analyzes the present and potential consequences of the Kremlin’s ongoing campaign against YouTube.
After the Russian authorities began throttling YouTube in July 2024, industry experts wondered how long it would take for the Kremlin to block the platform completely. But those who predicted an imminent YouTube ban failed to take into account that slowing down video playback speeds to near-watchable levels works just as well.
In the first half of 2024, at least 95 million Russians over the age of 12 visited YouTube every month, according to data from the Russian media research company Mediascope. In other words, almost 80 percent of Russia’s adult population watched YouTube regularly before the “slowdown.” The platform held fourth place in Mediascope’s Internet ranking, coming in behind Yandex, Google, and WhatsApp.
Throttling YouTube changed these numbers significantly. In early December 2024, VKontakte’s monthly reach surpassed YouTube’s for the first time. And by April 2025, the video platform had lost upwards of 15 million Russian users, leaving it with a total audience in Russia of about 79 million. What’s more, Russians stopped visiting the site as often as they did before. As of April 2025, just 27.5 million people in Russia watched YouTube daily — down from 55 million before the slowdown.
Turning to television
YouTube’s losses did not bring the expected gains to the Russian platforms that were angling to replace it. VKontakte, for example, has yet to match YouTube’s normal monthly reach. As of April 2025, the social network boasted 93.8 million monthly users, up from 92 million in December 2024 and approximately 90 million before that. Meanwhile, Russia’s YouTube alternative — Rutube — hasn’t been able to crack the top 10 most popular sites.
As it turns out, the Russian authorities’ attempts to herd viewers towards loyal video platforms have actually broken media consumption patterns.
Rather than switching to a YouTube alternative, millions of Russians simply began to watch online videos less often. From January to May 2025, this content category saw its total audience decline by 11 percent.
The services Russians have turned to instead vary based on whether they’re looking to watch movies, TV shows, or recordings of broadcasts. For example, parents whose kids once watched cartoons on YouTube have switched to Russian streaming platforms like Kinopoisk.
Meanwhile, many Russians have switched to watching television. According to data from the communications group Rodnaya Rech, before YouTube was effectively blocked, the amount of time Russians spent watching television had been declining steadily year after year, with the biggest drops seen among those aged 12–24 (down 10 percent) and 25–44 (down 14 percent).
In the fall of 2024, Russians in the first group began watching more TV than they did the year before. And by March 2025, the usual decline in interest in television had slowed by two- or even three-fold. So while Russian platforms still hope to become viable YouTube alternatives, it appears that television is their real competition.
The state of YouTube today — and tomorrow
Judging by the size of YouTube’s remaining Russian audience, users are actively using VPNs to continue watching videos on their favorite platform. Some service providers in Russia are even taking advantage of the fact that YouTube isn’t formally banned and offering solutions for bypassing the restrictions.
Despite being encouraged to switch to VKontakte or Rutube, the hosts of many non-political and pro-Kremlin YouTube channels didn’t take to these platforms. Some have even returned to YouTube or begun posting their content on both sites.
YouTube has also managed to block attempts by VKontakte and Rutube to transfer its content to their platforms.
Russian YouTube channels focused on socio-political coverage have largely retained their audiences — and this is especially true of Kremlin critics. While the de facto block has affected their views, the main problem they face is generating revenue.
While YouTube is still accessible inside Russia via VPN, the platform has cut all economic ties with the country due to international sanctions. After Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, YouTube disabled advertising in the Russian market and suspended all monetization functions for users from the Russian Federation.
Last month, the platform also updated its system to better detect when ads are being shown to Russian viewers using VPNs. This means Russian YouTubers will likely continue to earn less. That said, YouTube remains an important player in the advertising market. In 2024, it accounted for half of Russian advertisers’ spending on influencer marketing.
For now, the Russian authorities have become so preoccupied with shutting down mobile Internet access that they’ve seemingly forgotten about YouTube. However, a new law introducing fines for “deliberately seeking out and accessing extremist materials” online will come into force in Russia on September 1. In all likelihood, the authorities will figure out how to apply this law to YouTube viewers in the fall.
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