The YouTube channels of Russian media RT and Sputnik have been blocked across Europe by the video platform “in view of the ongoing war in Ukraine”, YouTube announced in an email sent to AFP on Tuesday.
“We are blocking RT and Sputnik YouTube channels across Europe, effective immediately. Our systems take some time to be fully operational. Our teams continue to monitor the situation 24 hours a day to act as quickly as possible,” said YouTube, a subsidiary of the American internet giant Google.
On Monday, Facebook (Meta group) had already decided to block, in the countries of the European Union, the content published by the RT channel (formerly Russia Today) and the Sputnik site, both considered as emanations of Russian power.
“We have received requests from several governments and the European Union to take further action regarding Russian state-controlled media,” wrote Nick Clegg, vice president of Meta, on his Twitter account. He had justified the suspension by “the exceptional nature of the situation”.
All these announcements follow that of the banning of the two media on Sunday by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. According to her, these media are guilty of peddling “lies to justify (Vladimir) Putin’s war”.
This announcement concerns both the presence of RT and Sputnik on the internet and their television broadcasting.