Russia's media regulator has asked internet giant
Google to delete videos of anti-government protests and arrests in
Moscow from its platform YouTube.
In a letter, the company was asked to take measures to prevent
unauthorized protests from being advertised, the media regulation
authority Roskomnadzor said on Sunday.
Many videos have been published on YouTube showing the sometimes
brutal police crackdown.
Tens of thousands of Russians held their fourth demonstration in as
many weeks in central Moscow on Saturday, protesting against police
violence and in favour of free and fair elections.
The protests erupted after several opposition candidates were
controversially rejected from a ballot for upcoming city council
elections.
In the last three weekends alone, more than 2,000 people were
detained in the Russian capital.
There are also videos on YouTube of Saturday's demonstration, which
organizers say attracted more than 50,000 people. In contrast to the
protests on previous weekends, the authorities had approved this
rally.
Roskomnadzor told Google that if it did not react, Russia would
regard that as hostile interference in its internal affairs and
democratic elections. Moscow would then reserve the right to react
"appropriately," it said.
People attend a rally to demand authorities allow opposition candidates to run in the upcoming local election in Moscow yesterday