Russia's media regulator has asked internet giant Google to delete videos of anti-government protests and arrests in Moscow from its platform YouTube.
In a letter, the company was asked to take measures to prevent unauthorized protests from being advertised, the media regulation authority Roskomnadzor said on Sunday. Many videos have been published on YouTube showing the sometimes brutal police crackdown.
  Tens of thousands of Russians held their fourth demonstration in as many weeks in central Moscow on Saturday, protesting against police violence and in favour of free and fair elections. The protests erupted after several opposition candidates were controversially rejected from a ballot for upcoming city council elections.
 In the last three weekends alone, more than 2,000 people were detained in the Russian capital. There are also videos on YouTube of Saturday's demonstration, which organizers say attracted more than 50,000 people. In contrast to the protests on previous weekends, the authorities had approved this rally.
 Roskomnadzor told Google that if it did not react, Russia would regard that as hostile interference in its internal affairs and democratic elections. Moscow would then reserve the right to react "appropriately," it said.
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