YouTube blocks Russian state-funded media channels globally

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YouTube announced on Friday that it had begun blocking access globally to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, citing a policy barring content that denies, minimizes or trivializes well-documented violent events.

The video platform had previously blocked the channels, specifically those of Russia Today and Sputnik, across Europe.

A YouTube spokesman, Farshad Shadloo, said the blocking of the Russian outlets was in line with that policy.

YouTube previously paused YouTube ads in Russia. Now, it is extending that to all the ways it makes money on the platform in Russia.

Russian state media have called restrictions placed on them by distributors, which include app stores and other social media services, unjustified censorship.

YouTube declined to specify which and how many channels had been blocked globally, or whether they ever would be restored.

Workers across Google had been urging YouTube to take additional punitive measures against Russian channels, accusing them of spreading false narratives about the Ukrainian leadership and civilian deaths during the war, according to three employees at the company.

The move comes as Russia has taken up an increasingly aggressive stance against US tech companies that have taken measures to curb Russian disinformation on their platforms.