Tatyana Flegontova / TASS

Roskomnadzor sent a letter to Google demanding that it stop using YouTube to advertise illegal mass events. This was reported on the agency's website. According to Roskomnadzor, opposition YouTube channels buy advertising tools from the Google-owned video hosting service, such as push notifications, to spread information about uncoordinated events.

Moreover, such push notifications are sent even to those users who are not subscribed to these YouTube channels, Roskomnadzor claims. And uncoordinated events that are advertised on YouTube are aimed, among other things, at disrupting federal and regional elections, the agency’s report notes.

If Google does not respond to the demand, this will be regarded as interference in the sovereign affairs of the state, as well as hostile influence and obstruction of elections in Russia, Roskomnadzor added. In this case, the agency promised the company an "adequate response."

Rally on Sakharov Avenue. Main

Politics / Democracy

In Moscow, five major protests have taken place over the past month over the Moscow City Duma elections. Only two of them were agreed upon with the authorities, including the most recent one on August 10. On Saturday, a rally on Academician Sakharov Avenue gathered, according to the White Counter, more than 50,000 people. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported 20,000 protesters. The rally was agreed upon with the authorities, so there were almost no arrests. However, after it ended, some of the protesters went to the city center, where, according to OVD-Info, more than 200 people were arrested.

The two previous protests – on July 27 and August 3 – were not coordinated with the authorities. According to OVD-Info, 1,373 people were detained at the first protest, and 1,001 at the second. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported 1,074 and 600 detainees, respectively. Following the protest on July 27, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on mass riots, in which more than 10 people were detained.

The first protest due to the Moscow City Duma elections took place on July 14 – more than 20 people were detained, the protesters tried to declare an indefinite protest in the courtyard of the Moscow City Electoral Commission. The approved rally on Sakharov on July 20 gathered more than 20,000 people.

Parfenov, Face, Oxxxymiron. Who came to the rally in the center of Moscow 1 / 10

Journalist and TV presenter Leonid Parfenov during a rally in support of independent candidates for Moscow City Duma deputy on Sakharov Avenue / Sergei Savostyanov / TASS

Roskomnadzor demands that Google stop advertising illegal rallies