Ukrainian extension “stopRU” for YouTube has restricted the display of nearly five million Russian videos on the platform, according to the initiative’s website. Ukrainian developer Taras Slyvka launched the YouTube de-russification project last April. The tool swiftly identifies Russian-language content on the video hosting platform and restricts it for the user.
Users can install the extension for free. Afterward, “stopRU” analyzes each video on the page, checking the video title and channel for the presence of exclusively Russian (ё, ъ, ы, э) and Ukrainian (ґ, є, і, ї) letters.
Upon detecting a Russian video, the extension offers the “Not interested” or “Do not recommend the channel” options or highlights the video without further action. The video is then replaced with the label “Video removed.”
“Not an ideal criterion, but it’s not a problem. Within a few days, the program will catch most Russian videos. You can change the program’s behavior in the settings,” the initiative’s website states.
Over 17,000 users have used the extension since last April. “stopRU” is compatible with Chrome and Firefox browsers.
“Russian is not just any foreign language for us. It is the language of the enemy that has been engaged in direct military conflict with us for the past few years. And a cultural conflict for the past few centuries.
Watching ‘interesting videos’ in Russian now is akin to ‘reading Pushkin in the original.’ We are fighting against the empire and trying to integrate into the world of Western democracies. Dependency manifests itself in various areas: political, economic, and cultural. Where the common thread is the language of content. The sooner we get rid of Russian, the faster this dependency diminishes,” developer Taras Slyvka wrote in a text for DOU.
You can download the extension at the following link.
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