YouTube taken down over 9,000 channels related to Ukraine war

For breaking content restrictions, YouTube has taken down over 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels containing content related to the Ukraine war.

Channels affiliated with Russian media organisations, such as Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, have also been banned globally by the corporation.

With an estimated 90 million subscribers, YouTube is a popular video streaming service in Russia. Even after the invasion of Ukraine, when other tech companies and platforms stopped operating in the region, the platform continued to operate.

According to The Guardian, the platform has started eliminating pro-Kremlin information from its site due to violations of their content guideline.

Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief product officer said, “We have a major violent events policy and that applies to things like denial of major violent events: everything from the Holocaust to Sandy Hook. And of course, what’s happening in Ukraine is a major violent event. And so we’ve used that policy to take unprecedented action.”

He also said in an interview with the outlet that content about the Ukraine-Russia conflict had more than 40 million views in Ukraine alone.

While discussing YouTube’s crackdown on such content he said, “The first and probably most paramount responsibility is making sure that people who are looking for information about this event can get accurate, high-quality, credible information on YouTube. The consumption of authoritative channels on our platform has grown significantly, of course in Ukraine, but also in countries surrounding Ukraine, Poland, and also within Russia itself.”

Mohan talks about the popularity of YouTube in Russia as the largest video-sharing site, serving as “a place where Russian citizens can get uncensored information about the war, including from many of the same authoritative channels that we all have access to outside of the country. We remain an important platform for Russian citizens themselves as this crisis continues to evolve.”

Despite content disputes and a fine for not removing forbidden material, Russian Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadaev failed to shut YouTube last week. However, he stated in a statement that he will not prohibit YouTube despite the fact that it will damage people.