YouTube throttling in Russia eased to its lowest levels in a year and a half

YouTube throttling in Russia eased to its lowest levels in a year and a half

The level of YouTube restrictions in Russia in July 2026 fell to a record low for the past year and a half, 49%, according to data from the internet censorship tracking service OONI, as noted by Verstka.

In July, the number of anomalous and incorrect values when connecting to YouTube twice dropped below 40% and exceeded 57% only once, on July 20. In June, the platform’s average blocking level was 60%.

The peak of blocking was recorded in January 2026, when the average monthly number of anomalies rose to 76.5%. The maximum daily level of restrictions then exceeded 83%.

After that, the level of YouTube throttling began to decline. From March through May 2026, the number of anomalies stayed at the relatively low level of 52-54%, whereas in February the figure exceeded 68%.

Before that, from April through December 2025, the monthly average value of anomalies and incorrect attempts to connect varied from 61% to 69%. According to the service’s data, the blocking reached those levels after it was tightened in February 2025. At that point, the anomaly rate rose from 12% to a monthly average of 63%.

Restrictions on YouTube began in the summer of 2024. In August, according to OONI data, the anomaly rate increased from an average of 0.5% to 9.5%.

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