Russian Official Says, 'We Are Not Planning to Close YouTube'

Russia is not planning to block Alphabet Inc's YouTube, the minister for digital development said, acknowledging that such a move would likely see Russian users suffer and should therefore be avoided. Russia has blocked other foreign social media platforms, but despite months of fines and threats against YouTube for failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal and for restricting access to some Russian media, it has stopped short of delivering a killer blow to the video-hosting service.