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YouTube has deleted over 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict for violating content guidelines, which forbid creators from denying or trivialising major violent events.
YouTube also temporarily suspended channels affiliated with Russia’s Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs for referring to the invasion of Ukraine as a “liberation mission.”
“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,” said YouTube’s Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan.
According to Mohan, YouTube’s war-related news content has earned over 40 million views in Ukraine alone.
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.”
Although YouTube did not disclose a breakdown of the taken down content and channels, Mohan said that much of it represented Kremlin narratives about the invasion.
“I don’t have the specific numbers, but you can imagine a lot of it being the narratives that are coming from the Russian government or Russian actors on behalf of the Russian government,” he said.
“YouTube remains the largest video-sharing site up and running in Russia itself,” Mohan said. “So YouTube is 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.”
YouTube stays amidst disagreements
Unlike some of its American counterparts, the platform has remained operational despite hosting content from opposition figures like Alexei Navalny.
YouTube has an estimated 90 million users in Russia. Still, advertising is no longer allowed on the network to which Navalny has protested, claiming that well-targeted ads helped counterbalance Kremlin propaganda.
In December, Russia penalized Google 7.2 billion roubles ($98 million) for failing to delete content that authorities regarded as illegal.
In April, a Russian TV program controlled by a sanctioned billionaire claimed that authorities seized 1 billion roubles (about $15 million) from Google for failing to restore access to its YouTube account
Last week, Google’s Russian subsidiary announced it would file for bankruptcy after authorities seized its bank account.
Despite these disputes, Russia’s Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadaev said the country would not block its most popular social media platform.
“We are not planning to close YouTube,” the minister said. “Above all, when we restrict something, we should clearly understand that our users won’t suffer.”
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
