The irony: Russia tries to promote RuTube as the domestic alternative to YouTube. But for the platform to become economically viable (i.e., to be able to pay content producers!) it runs ads.
YouTube, meanwhile, has disabled both ads and monetisation in Russia.
Result: users stay on YouTube. Desperate RuTube removes ads.
https://zona.media/news/2023/04/21/RuTube
#Russia #Platform #YouTube #censorship #commodon @politicalscience
The lesson here is that no matter how strongly committed an authoritarian state is, some basic rules will still apply when it comes to platforms (network effects, issues with generating revenue, providing incentives for content producers).
YouTube simply offers more content than RuTube AND is ad-free. Of course users are not switching platforms.
Whether RuTube will make it depends on how much Russia is willing to invest in it, not just to keep it running, but to bankroll content production. But most of all, it depends on whether they are able to attract Russian content producers, competing with other (Russian) monetised platforms.
Marielle Wijermars