Autumn Johnson
newsbusters.org
Autumn is a practicing attorney licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia. When not working, Autumn enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, and spending time with her cats.
YouTube blocked all Russian media outlets globally.
Previously, YouTube only blocked RT and Sputnik’s channels in Europe. The channels are state-funded.
“We began blocking RT & Sputnik’s YouTube channels across Europe,” YouTube tweeted at the time. “Since Russia began its invasion in Ukraine, we’ve been focused on removing violative content & connecting people to trusted news & information.”
YouTube changed this stance on Friday evening.
“Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events. We are now removing content about Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. 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.
The platform added that it had removed “more than 1,000 channels and over 15,000” that violate its “hate” speech policy.
YouTube also suspended ads and monetization in Russia.
The platform said it would take “further action” if necessary.
“Our teams continue to closely monitor the situation, and are ready to take further action. We will continue to share updates as they become available,” YouTube tweeted.