Starting in March, Netflix should stream 20 state tv channels in Russia. Roskomnadzor, the nation’s media watchdog, registered the platform as an “audiovisual service” this week. Among the channels Netflix should carry are the flagship Channel One, leisure community NTV and a Russian Orthodox Church channel known as Spas (which suggests “Saved”).
Streaming providers with greater than 100,000 each day customers in Russia are included on the register, which was established late final yr. Not solely should registered platforms supply state TV channels, they should arrange a Russian firm, in response to The Moscow Times.
Companies on the register additionally should abide by Russian legal guidelines. For one factor, Netflix won’t be allowed to advertise “extremism.” Critics declare that provision has been wielded in opposition to those that assist the Kremlin’s opponents.
Other video providers within the nation reportedly argued that Netflix ought to be added to the register to degree the enjoying discipline, because it meets the necessities. The Russian model of Netflix is operated by Entertainment Online Service, a subsidiary of National Media Group, which has a stake in Channel One.
Engadget has contacted Netflix for remark.
In November, it emerged Russia was investigating a grievance over LGBTQIA+ content material on Netflix. The firm instructed Engadget such content material was rated appropriately. That similar month, Russia ordered a number of tech giants (together with Apple, Google, Meta, TikTok and Twitter) to arrange workplaces inside its borders by the top of this yr.
