YouTube vs. Putin: The company has blocked more than 9,000 pro-Russian channels

Knockout to Russian propaganda: The video giant removed more than 70,000 videos identified with the Kremlin, some of which referred to the invasion as a "liberation mission."

Company official: "What is happening in Ukraine is a major violent event"

Yinon Ben Shoshan

23/05/2022

Monday, 23 May 2022, 09:00 Updated: 09:05

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

YouTube (Photo: ShutterStock)

YouTube has removed more than 70,000 videos and more than 9,000 war-related channels in Ukraine "for violating community guidelines", including the removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a "liberation mission", the Guardian reported.

The video giant has a huge audience in Russia and has long been a popular platform for both the opposition to the regime and for the official Russian media subordinate to the administration.

Google, YouTube's parent company, did not give too much detail on the issue that spread disinformation about the Russian invasion, but noted that one of the channels was linked to TV journalist and presenter Vladimir Soloveev - who is one of the Kremlin's supporters.

"We have a policy for major violent incidents and it applies to things like Holocaust denial and the Sandy Hawk Elementary School massacre. And of course, what's happening in Ukraine is a major violent incident," Neil Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, told the Guardian.

"As a result,

Every Thursday

Benefits and attractions for only 10 NIS - only in the Walla!

In collaboration with Poalim Wonder

Some videos referred to the invasion as a "liberation mission" (Photo: Reuters)

Partly as a result of its actions, YouTube has seen a significant increase in the number of people in Ukraine, Poland and Russia consuming reliable and accurate content about the conflict.

In Ukraine, for example, news content about the invasion generated more than 40 million views.

"The first and probably highest responsibility is to make sure that people looking for information about this incident can get accurate, quality and reliable information on YouTube," Mohan told the Guardian.

• technology

• news

Tags

• Ukraine

• Russia

• YouTube