Russia is set to launch TikTok rival developed by Putin’s daughter’s company
- Russia’s largest media holding company Gazprom-Media will launch the app
- The app was developed with Innopraktika foundation, an organisation run by President Vladimir Putin’s younger daughter Katerina Tikhonova, 34
- The app will provide Russian bloggers a new video service, similar to TikTok
Russia’s largest media holding company is set to launch an app similar to Tiktok after it was developed by a company run by President Vladimir Putin’s daughter.
Gazprom-Media, a major state owned media conglomerate, has purchased a service called ‘Ya Moldets’ or ‘I am great’, CEO Alexander Zharov said on Wednesday.
The media holding, which is controlled by state energy giant Gazprom, developed the app with the support of the Innopraktika foundation, an organisation run by Putin’s younger daughter Katerina Tikhonova, 34.
The company will ‘use the project’s software to speed up the creation of a new video service for Russian bloggers,’ Zharov told Kommersant newspaper, adding that it will be launched within two years.
Russia’s largest media holding company is set to launch an app similar to Tiktok after it was developed by a company run by President Vladimir Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova, 34. Pictured: Katerina with her husband Kirill Shamalov at their wedding in 2013 in leaked photos
Gazprom-Media, a major state owned media conglomerate, has purchased a service called ‘Ya Moldets’ or ‘I am great’, CEO Alexander Zharov said on Wednesday. Pictured: Zharov (file photo)
The app will support the sharing of short vertical videos, similar to the Chinese social network TikTok (file photo)
The app will support the sharing of short vertical videos, similar to the Chinese social network TikTok.
Zharov took charge of Gazprom-Media earlier this year after leaving his post as head of the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor that was behind the failed blocking of the Telegram messaging service.
Gazprom-Media is one of Russia’s largest media organisations, owning some of its most-watched television channels and a range of radio stations.
Putin’s private life is so secretive that the Kremlin has never even confirmed the identities of his daughters, although the US government has named Kirill Shamalov, 38, as Putin’s son-in-law and a member of the country’s ‘billionaire elite’.
Shamalov allegedly bought a $380million stake in Russian petrochemical firm Sibur for $100 just months after marrying Tikhonova, according to the investigation by iStories.
Responding to the latest reports, the Kremlin claimed the investigations into Putin’s family were ‘lies that are unable to reach their goal’.
Vladimir Putin, pictured in Moscow on December 7, keeps his private life secret and little is known about his friends or family
Earlier this month Zharov announced that Gazprom-Media will launch two websites similar to YouTube in the next two years, with one being an improved version of the Rutube streaming service – a platform targeted at Russian speakers that Gazprom-Media acquired in 2008.
On Wednesday Zharov said the holding had been working for ‘about a year to modernise it and make it no worse than YouTube in terms of tools’.
In recent years YouTube has become an increasingly popular platform for young Russians, with some of the most-watched channels racking in tens of millions of views.
It has also become a source of independent news and an alternative to the main TV channels that are mostly under state control.
Authorities have continuously stepped up efforts to tighten control over the Russian segment of the internet under the pretext of fighting online extremism.
Earlier Wednesday the lower house of Russia’s parliament passed legislation that would make it possible to block internet platforms, including YouTube, if they are found guilty of ‘censorship’ and ‘discrimination’.