President Vladimir Putin is looking into slow speeds and disruptions on YouTube in Russia after the country's top cinema official raised the matter with him, the Kremlin said on Friday. Critics believe YouTube is being deliberately disrupted by the authorities to prevent Russians from viewing a mass of content there that is critical of Putin and his government.

The Kremlin on Friday said problems with slower speeds on YouTube in Russia were linked to Google's failure to comply with Russian law and that President Vladimir Putin was looking into the issue. Russian internet monitoring services have reported mass outages of the online video hosting service,

Starting in January in the U.S. and other markets, Spotify Premium users will be able to see ad-free videos, and video creators can earn money off those videos.

Spotify is aiming to give YouTube some competition with its new partner program for video creators and content that goes viral. The music and podcast app announced a new “Partner Program” that monetizes audio and video beyond income from advertising starting on January 2,

Spotify goes after YouTube's video podcast dominance by removing ads for paid subscribers and introducing a new revenue program for creators.