YouTube tightens its restrictions on Russian content around the world.
To prevent Russian propaganda from reaching European viewers, YouTube recently disabled RT and Sputnik channels across Europe. However, as the firm reported on Twitter today, this restriction has been lifted, citing the community guidelines.
On the one hand, the Community Guidelines forbid the denial, downplaying, or trivialization of verified violent incidents, prompting a push to remove any content about the Russian invasion that does not comply with these requirements.
1/ Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events. We are now removing content about Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. https://t.co/TrTnOXtOTU
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) March 11, 2022
On the other hand, the company has announced that effective immediately, YouTube channels associated with Russian government-funded media outlets – such as RT and Sputnik – will be blocked globally, meaning that, while European users may have had difficulty accessing these channels previously, their audience may now be solely Russian, if not completely non-existent.
Individual users who have their own YouTube channels in Russia should not be affected by this change in the social video network’s standards. These adjustments continue to impact only on YouTube channels affiliated with media.
