Google representatives in Russia did not immediately respond
to a request for comment by email. Google representatives outside Russia also
did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said adverts on the platform
were calling for the communications systems of Russia and Belarus' railway
networks to be suspended and that their dissemination was evidence of the U.S.
tech giant's anti-Russian position. It did not say which accounts were
publishing the adverts.
"The actions of YouTube's administration are of a
terrorist nature and threaten the life and health of Russian citizens,"
the regulator said.
"Roskomnadzor categorically opposes such advertising
campaigns and demands that Google stop broadcasting anti-Russia videos as soon
as possible."
It was the latest salvo in a row between Moscow and foreign
tech firms over Ukraine.
YouTube, which has blocked Russian state-funded media
globally, is under heavy pressure from Russia's communications regulator and
politicians.
Outraged that Meta Platforms was allowing social media users
in Ukraine to post messages such as "Death to the Russian invaders",
Moscow blocked Instagram this week, having already stopped access to Facebook
because of what it said were restrictions by the platform on Russian media.
DOMESTIC ALTERNATIVES
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday wrote a
fierce criticism of foreign social media firms, namechecking both Meta and
YouTube, but he hinted that the door leading to their possible return to the
Russian market would be left ajar.
"The 'guardians' of free speech have in all seriousness
allowed users of their social media to wish death upon the Russian
military," Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now
deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, wrote on his Telegram channel.
Medvedev said Russia has the necessary tools and experience
to develop its own social media, saying the "one-way game" of Western
firms controlling information flows could not continue.
"In order to return, they will have to prove their
independence and good attitude to Russia and its citizens," he wrote.
"However, it is not a fact that they will be able to dip their toes in the
same water twice."
VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, has been breaking
records for activity on its platform since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on
Feb. 24.
The site attracted 300,000 new users in the two weeks after
Russia began what it calls a special operation to degrade its southern
neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it calls dangerous
nationalists.
On the day Instagram was blocked in Russia, VKontakte said
its daily domestic audience grew by 8.7% to more than 50 million people, a new
record.
Russian tech entrepreneurs have said they would launch
picture-sharing application Rossgram on the domestic market to help fill the
void left by Instagram.
In November, Gazprom Media launched Yappy as a domestic
rival to video-sharing platform TikTok.