In a further expansion of its policy responses to Russia's war in Ukraine, YouTube has said it's now blocking Kremlin-backed media outlets globally, not just in Europe where two Russia state-affiliated channels are.
This goes above and beyond any legal mandates to block this content; last week Apple pulled the apps from its global App Stores following a request by Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
The company writes that it is now blocking access to the websites of the six entities the EU has imposed sanctions on. We asked for clarification on the extent of the ban.
2/ In line with that, 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.
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) March 11, 2022
According to an update to the policy on the platform, it may take time for the change to take effect.
The Community Guidelines prohibit content that denies, minimizes or trivializes violent events, and will be enforced by the company.
It looks like the new thing is to respond to the Russian propaganda that is being churned out to deny the reality of reports.
The recent bombing of a maternity and children's hospital in the port city of Mariupol, which Russian outlets quickly targeted with conspiracy theories, including implying victims in photos and video are actors or otherwise staging their injuries, is an example. The hospital was a legitimate target because it had been emptied of patients and staff by a battalion of Ukrainian fighters who had taken up positions there.
We reached out to YouTube with questions about the larger context around this announcement.
More than 1,000 channels and over 15,000 videos have been removed from the site for violating a number of policies, including its hate speech policy.
It is looking to show progress on measures to amplify the quality of reporting about the war.
The platform has confirmed that it has stopped all revenue generating on the platform in Russia, as well as extending the recent pause on YouTube ads in the country to cover all of the ways users could monetize on the platform. Russian users were previously left with some monetization options.
Western sanctions against Russian banks have led to the suspension of Play Store billing and YouTube payments in Russia.
EU’s ban on Russia Today and Sputnik is now in effect
YouTube geoblocks Russia Today, Sputnik channels in Europe
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