Following the pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, tech companies are tightening the grip and blocking Russian-affiliated media from running ads or broadcasting their channels. YouTube had previously blocked RT and Sputnik channels in Europe over a direct order from the European Union. Now, the company is seeking to block Russian state media channels worldwide. According to the latest YouTube announcement, the change is effective immediately. However, the whole process might take some time. “We are also now blocking access to YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media globally, expanding from across Europe. This change is effective immediately, and we expect our systems to take time to ramp up.” YouTube noted in its tweet. Google is in a critical condition over its policies toward the ongoing war. Some EU officials have recently asked Google to remove Russian state media websites from its search pages.
YouTube is also removing some videos that might be misleading
YouTube efforts against Russian state media are not limited to blocking their channels in Europe and worldwide. The company is also removing videos that might contain misleading information regarding the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Twitter and Facebook have recently deleted some posts from Russia’s embassy in the UK that denied bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. YouTube is supposed to take the same path. YouTube also stated that its Community Guidelines don’t allow for “denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events.” To date, YouTube has removed over 1,000 channels and over 15,000 videos about the Russia and Ukraine conflict due to hate speech, misinformation, and graphic content. The company said that it wouldn’t tolerate contents that violated its policies. Google ad sales in the country have also stopped. Moreover, Google also halted the YouTube monetization and payments in Russia. “We recently paused all YouTube ads in Russia. We’ve now extended this to all of the ways to monetize on our platform in Russia.” YouTube said. Google and YouTube might take more severe actions against Russian state media as the invasion continues. Of course, Russia has also reacted to these sanctions and blocked access to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Google and YouTube might be the next targets.
