The video streaming platform of the Russian social media company VK hasseen a surge in downloads over the past week as playback speeds on YouTube plummet in an apparent attempt by the authorities to “throttle” the website. “VK Video app downloads rose 4.5 times in the first week of August compared to July’s monthly average, reaching more than 250,000 [downloads] per day,” the state-run news agency TASS quoted the tech company’s press service as saying. Apple’s App Store and Google Play also showed VK Video among theirtop downloaded apps, a significant increase after it remained outside the top…