YouTube - that's it? Well, wait - we will see

Analysting forecasts have come true: Russia test the blocking of the most popular video service

“Roskomnadzor, at the request of the prosecutor's office, in accordance with an order prohibiting the distribution of almost everything, blocked YouTube in Russia. After blocking the service across the country, a series of single pickets began, a number of large protests are planned on the coming days. The opposition is shocked, schoolchildren are outraged, the children announced a hunger strike - food without cartoons does not climb. The country is experiencing the most difficult political crisis in its history. ”

So? So you see the consequences of blocking popular video hosting? And - in vain.

Rumors and news around the possible or real blocking of a popular service have already become a duty background of the news agenda. Any event is perceived as long -awaited: well, it happened, we warned. Some even argued: when? This year? In the next? And again the next one. They will slow down allegedly at the request of Roskomnadzor or-because the servers were worn out, according to Rostelecom, or-if anything, we do not plan at all, according to the first-person press secretary.

To begin with any serious discussion, let's figure out the terms.

• Blocked - this means that it is impossible to use. But if via VPN, then it works great, like other types of prohibited social networks.

• Slow down - it means that they try to harm their own means. But the authorities have been doing it for a long time. However, the country is large, and even the consolidation of providers under the wing of state -owned companies does not give a result. On the basis of a small region, where there are three providers, whom we know by person, maybe it works. At the country's level-somewhere, really, slowed down, and someone learns this from the news. "Everything is not so unambiguous." So in any case, talking about blocking prematurely, or even meaningless.

Now Roskomnadzor has published a press release, the essence of which: the problem in Google servers, which were scattered around the country and helped quickly access to the company's services. And now, they say, the services are out of order, we do not have access to them. We have to disconnect, which, of course, will affect the speed of access to YouTube, about everyone.

It confuses, however, that they indicated a specific date. And the fact that without any servers, specifically Rostelecom, knows how to slow down anything, and constantly does it.

The translation of the shooters from all sides, they say, is not us, ”confirms the guesses: something is wrong here.

Most likely, this is indeed experiments. Summer, the fall of traffic is the time to check, but what will happen? The worst thing is nothing.

It all started after the Crimea, when the first assumptions that the Western service did not really need Russia. And the narrative “has not yet blocked” began to slowly penetrate the masses. It is understandable. The phlegmatic population in the field of a socio-political agenda has not appeared today. The carriers of liberal views in one way or another tried to rock the boat, as if hinting to the people: see what they were doing. But in real life, these screams did not reach the addressee. Alarmism in all its manifestations led to the opposite - the complete devaluation of the idea. Can't work? Illegal? Contradicts the constitution? What are you doing? But in response there was silence. Apparently, quite logical.

All this, in general, suffer from all this, but offshore journalism clearly expresses this. If it is somehow decided with financing, then losing the audience is a tragedy. And she will leave. Entertaining content is not great loss. And no matter what content is socially significant and informational, with all due respect to the creators, this is still not the most important thing for the audience. Of course, I would like to send rays of sympathy for those who are worried about the volume of the Russian audience or the opportunity to convey information to it, but the public itself is experiencing completely different emotions and completely different problems. In the end, the formal blocking of Western social networks did not lead to any consequences. To expect that the hypothetical impossibility of access to YouTube will change something, already somehow naive.

The continuation of the discussions about the YouTube lock, as well as about everything that happens in the Russian Runet segment, is only a boring description of the stages of current decay. They slowed down here, it doesn’t work there, they removed it here. No matter how pathetic it sounds, but against the background of what is happening, the performance - albeit important and large - a video service in Russia has no global significance.

Attention to the question is understandable: today YouTube is a head multimedia window in a civilized Russian -speaking world. The whole color of the Russian intelligentsia, recognized by “foreign agents”, all forbidden organizations, all those who, while safe, may and want to broadcast something human, are a therapeutic source for millions of Russians who do not support the state policy. YouTube is not just a daily fixation of what is happening, it is a market of truth, where its manufacturers are forced to compete with each other, giving birth to a full alternative media product. No wonder many socio-political bloggers are assigned a psychotherapeutic effect.

No one can influence anything, but a pleasant mutter of a female or male voice on the topic of a socio-political situation soothes-unlike the talk show on state channels.

Of course, alternative media and bloggers presented on YouTube are not only entertained. And the investigations in an entertaining form convey the horrors that are taking place, and the coordination of supporters, and the support of those who fell into trouble, and to the horror of the authorities - having the potential for the regularity of the marathon in support of the political prisoners ... It is not just that the employees of the virtual ether eat their bread. But no matter how unpleasant it is, all this is not the most important for the population.

The law on "foreign agents" endured? He suffered, dutifully placing the dies. Lack of advertisements to endure? He suffered, quickly launched Patreon and Busty. Spectators did not rebel? As we see, no.

But all this has already been. They caught forbidden voices on the radio waves. Now we go through VPN to prohibited sites. Did you listen to the western voices in silence? And today, apparently, you should not take risks: who knows who will insult what ... Now even worse, but what does it change? Unless he adds a drop to the barrel of constantly incoming problems. Summing up with the rest. Without concrete priorities, because no matter how cloudy it sounds, there are troubles and more in a blessing.

The news about YouTube will still come from the virtual front. Given the stack of modern legislation, you can hang differently on hosting. In the end, an extremist organization, in the end, is impossible even to share a link. You can really block and after this, probably, catch infrastructure problems or repeat shame, as in the case of an attempt to block telegrams. You can continue to break the network and achieve a significant decrease in traffic, even more falling advertising income. Or just plant someone else-it also helps, although it is not a technological solution.

Well, let's say, they broke - nothing has changed. It is worth recognizing that this is just a service that can easily be listed among those who left, does not work or seemed to be blocked. Slow down - get used to it, block - will be rebuilt. Or maybe they will simply forget: they live in North Korea without YouTube - they live. So this is not happiness. The company itself does not care what is happening to her business in Russia.

There is also good news: no matter what happens - a video will definitely appear on this topic on a popular video hosting. Regardless of the efforts of Rostelecom, Roskomnadzor and other sympathetic. Bloggers did everything they could. Now it's about the audience.