YouTube is not slowing down at all in removing government propaganda content from the platform. In the second quarter alone, the Google-owned company removed nearly 11,000 such videos from China, Russia and elsewhere. The latest news from Google’s Threat Analysis Group shows that of the nearly 11,000 YouTube channels removed in the second quarter, more than 7,700 were related to Chinese government-backed activities.
The campaigns shared content in English and Chinese that was pro-China and critical of the Philippines. They also expressed support for Chinese President Xi Jinping and reported on U.S. foreign affairs.
Although the content of the removed channels was primarily in Chinese, more than 2,000 of them were promoting Russian propaganda. The propaganda campaigns, produced in multiple languages, supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine and criticized Ukraine, NATO and the West.
Google also shut down YouTube channels, advertising accounts and a blog associated with Russian state media RT. RT was blocked by Western social media companies in 2022, although Google had been fighting RT's disinformation long before the war began.
In addition to China and Russia, Google removed channels that shared Turkish-language content in support of Turkey’s Victory Party, as well as several Iran-related channels that supported the Iranian government and Palestine while criticizing Israel. Additionally, activity related to Azerbaijan, Israel, Romania, and Ghana was removed.
In May 2022, YouTube said it had removed more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the Ukraine war, often citing what it calls a "liberation mission" for the Ukrainian invasion. The content violated the company's critical violence policy, which applies to incidents such as Holocaust denial and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Following the breach, Google suspended all advertising in Russia, including on YouTube. The company also refused to remove war-related content that Russia considered illegal, resulting in Google News being banned in Russia.
In October last year, Russia fined Google 20.5 billion rubles for blocking Russian channels on YouTube. This fine amounted to approximately US$20.5 billion at the time, which was much higher than the estimated level of global GDP at the time (approximately US$100 trillion).