Following the Russian – Ukrainian crisis which continues to take a deeper toll on the global community. Popular online video sharing platform – YouTube announces the blocking of a number of Russia controlled media channels on its platform. These networks are said to have the backing of the Russian government and are also affiliated with recent sanctions. According to a Reuters report, the video platform has placed a pause on these channels’ ability to advertise or earn money from YouTube.
One of the affected channels include Russia Today (RT), restrictions will also be placed on the channel in Ukraine as a response to Ukraine digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s plead. YouTube chose to honour the government request in a bit to curb Russian propaganda shared by these networks as a result of its links with the Russian government. YouTube started labelling videos posted by state-run networks in 2018. In addition, YouTube spokesperson Farshad Shadloo has also confirmed YouTube support by ensuring that such Russian state-run media become less recommended to users. This is another measure the platform is implementing to safeguard its digital community.
While YouTube confirms the Russian state-run network RT has been barred from running ads, it’s still unclear which other channels have temporarily been blocked from the ability to advertise and earn money on its platform. YouTube is yet to share a list of channels that are affected by this temporary ban. Mark Scott, Politico chief technology correspondent has raised serious concerns about this via Twitter, in his tweet he noted that some state-backed channels still appear to have ads running on their platform.
The report says a number of world tech platforms has also responded to the Ukrainian digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s request. Russia has also since restricted access to Facebook and Twitter. Although Russia hasn’t blocked YouTube just yet, however, threats to ban the platform are in discussion for deleting two RT channels in September.