Google Removes Thousands of Channels Over Propaganda

The American company Google has announced the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels in the second quarter of this year, associated with state-sponsored propaganda campaigns from China, Russia, and other countries.

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by CNBC.

Specifically, over 7,700 YouTube channels linked to China were removed. These pages primarily disseminated content in Chinese and English that promoted the People’s Republic of China, supported its leader Xi Jinping, and commented on U.S. foreign policy.

Additionally, more than 2,000 channels related to Russia were removed. The content, written in multiple languages, supported Russia and criticized Ukraine, NATO, and the West.

In May, Google deleted 20 YouTube channels, 4 Google Ads accounts, and 1 Blogger account linked to RT, the Russian state propaganda media accused of paying prominent conservative figures to spread content on social media ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections.

It is noted that YouTube began blocking RT channels back in March 2022, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The active removal of accounts is part of the work of Google’s Threat Analysis Group aimed at countering global disinformation campaigns and “coordinated influence” operations.

Previously, in the first quarter, Google had removed over 23,000 accounts.