MOSCOW, Nov 15 (Reuters) - 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.

Russia denies that, saying the issues are caused by Google's

failure to upgrade equipment - a charge disputed by the company

and technology experts.

Russian internet monitoring services have reported mass

outages of the online video hosting service, which is owned by

Alphabet's Google, in the last few months.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the speed issue was

linked to Google's failure to comply with Russian law and that

technical questions should be addressed to communications

regulator Roskomnadzor.

Roskomnadzor and Google did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

YouTube is used by more than 50 million Russians every day,

according to research company Mediascope. It provides an

important platform for the exiled Russian opposition and for

independent news outlets.

Peskov said YouTube speeds were not high on people's agendas

in Russia. But Karen Shakhnazarov, who has headed the

state-owned giant of Soviet and Russian cinema, Mosfilm, for

more than 25 years, said on Thursday he had met with Putin and

discussed the issue.

"Slowing down YouTube, in my view, is not very advisable

today," Shakhnazarov said on state television. "To which the

president said there are all sorts of nastiness on there."

Google, along with other foreign tech firms and social media

platforms, has been under pressure in Russia for several years,

particularly for not taking down content Moscow considers

illegal, such as what it calls "fakes" about the war in Ukraine.

Russia also strongly objects to Google blocking YouTube

channels and videos from state-sponsored media.

Shakhnazarov said he agreed that there were some bad things

on YouTube, but that those who wanted to access them were able

to get around restrictions and many others simply use the

platform to watch films and other content.

"He listened and said 'I'll look into it'," Shakhnazarov

said.