Google removes YouTube channels of thousands as part of its inquiry into coordinated influence operations in China, Russia, and Brazil.
As a part of an inquiry into coordinated influence operations which is related to China, the tech giant not only terminated YouTube channels but also blogs. As per the report, Google removed around 5,197 YouTube channels and blogs of 17 bloggers.
“These channels and blogs mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and US foreign affairs,” the company said in a blog post.
The search engine giant also terminated 718 Youtube channels linked to Russia as a part of a coordinated influence operations investigation.
“The campaign was linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and was sharing content in Russian that was supportive of Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin and critical of Ukraine and the West,” said the company.
The company also terminated many YouTube channels in Brazil, around 76 YouTube channels were removed where the drive was sharing content in Brazilian Portuguese that was supportive of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian President.
“We terminated 8 YouTube channels and blocked 2 domains from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Russia,” said Google.
The 27 YouTube channels which were sharing content supporting Russia and critical of Western Europe and Ukraine were also terminated by Google in Russia, apart from pulling down 30 YouTube channels and 5 AdSense accounts linked to a Russian consulting firm.
About Google:
Google is a technology company that was initially started as a search engine intended to provide a large amount of information. Cit’sently its more than a search engine. Currently, it is not only focusing on search engine technology but also other internet technology including online advertising, cloud computing, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
It was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In 2005, Google acquired Android for just $50 million which is now the most popular, most common, and most used OS for phones.
YouTube:
YouTube is an online video-sharing platform based in American headquarters in San Bruno, California. It was launched by Steve Chen, Chad Hurleysnd Jawed Karim on 2005 February 14.
After Google search, YouTube is the second most searched and most visited website which is owned by Google. The present CEO of YouTube is Susan Wojcicki who took the position on 5 Feb 2014. As of 2022 3rd quarter, its revenue is about $7,071 million according to Statista.
