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| YouTube bans Russian state media worldwide |
In an effort to broaden its political response to the Russian war in Ukraine, YouTube said it was now banning Kremlin-backed media globally, not just in Europe.
Last week, the European Union imposed sanctions on two Russian state-owned stations, Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries.
The progress, while important, is not unprecedented. Last week, Apple removed Russia Today and Sputnik apps from its global app store.
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov wrote a letter to CEO Tim Cook urging it to stop selling devices in Russia and block access to the App Store.
YouTube's wording suggests that it may ban six RT and Sputnik entities that the European Union has sanctioned.
The company wrote that it is now blocking access to YouTube channels linked to Russian state-sponsored media worldwide.
An extended ban on Russian state media comes into effect. However, according to the policy update, the platform warned that the changes could take some time. "Hopefully our system will take time," she wrote.
The platform said it has implemented a number of Ukraine-focused policies that ban content that denies or minimizes well-documented violence. It said it was removing content related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that violated this policy.
These actions are aimed at responding to the propaganda spread by Russia to deny the correctness of information about what is happening in Ukraine.
YouTube has become a global ban
The platform said it has removed more than 1,000 channels and more than 15,000 videos for violating multiple policies. Policy violations include hate speech, misinformation, graphic content, etc.
It also demonstrates progress in previously announced actions to expand high-quality war intelligence. This means helping to provide honest reporting and distinguishing it from Kremlin propaganda.
She said that since the change, reliable news sources in Ukraine have been viewed more than 17 million times.
In another move targeting Russian YouTubers, the platform also confirmed that it has expanded the ad ban in the country to include all the ways users can monetize the platform.
This blocks all profits. This is after some monetization options have been reserved for Russian users in advance.
Google also said it will suspend App Store billing and YouTube payments in Russia due to Western sanctions against Russian banks.