What just happened? YouTube isn't slowing down when it comes to removing propaganda from the platform. In the second quarter alone, the Google-owned firm removed almost 11,000 videos that fall into this category from China, Russia, and elsewhere.
An update from Google's Threat Analysis Group reveals that of the nearly 11,000 YouTube channels removed in Q2, more than 7,700 of them were linked to state-sponsored campaigns from China.
The campaigns shared content in English and Chinese that was supportive of China and critical of the Philippines. They also voiced support for President Xi Jinping and covered US foreign affairs.
While Chinese content made up the majority of removed channels, over 2,000 of them were promoting Russian propaganda. As we've seen in the past, these campaigns are created in multiple languages, support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and are critical of Ukraine, NATO, and the West.
Google also terminated YouTube channels, Ads accounts, and a blog linked to Russian state-controlled media outlet RT. The outlet was blocked by Western social media companies in 2022, though Google has been fighting against RT misinformation for years, long before the war began.
In addition to China and Russia, Google removed channels that were sharing content in Turkish that was supportive of the Turkish Victory Party, and several linked to Iran that were supportive of the country's government and Palestine while being critical of Israel. There were also campaigns linked to Azerbaijan, Israel, Romania, and Ghana.
In May 2022, YouTube said it had removed more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine, often due to the invasion being referred to as a "liberation mission." The content went against the company's major violent events policy, which applies to the denial of events such as the Holocaust and Sandy Hook.
Google suspended all advertising in Russia, including on YouTube, following the invasion. It also refused to remove content relating to the war that Russia deemed illegal, which led to Google News being banned in the country.
In October last year, Russia hit Google with a fine of two undecillion rubles over YouTube blocking access to Russian channels. That was about $20.5 decillion at the time, quite a lot more than the estimated global GDP of around $100 trillion.