Google Pulls Thousands of YouTube Channels ‘Linked’ to Brazil, Russia, China, Citing Influence Operations
December 5, 2022 | California
Google has removed thousands of YouTube channels “linked to” Brazil, Russia, and China as part of its investigation into “coordinated influence operations,” the tech giant’s Threat Analysis Group has said.
In its Dec. 1 bulletin, Google said it had terminated the accounts on its platforms in the fourth quarter of this year.
In total, the California-headquartered company removed 76 YouTube channels as part of its probe into “coordinated influence operations linked to Brazil.”
The company said this included content in Brazilian Portuguese that was supportive of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently contesting the results of the October election after which his left-wing opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was named the winner.
Meta Provided Leads for Russia-Linked Probe
Google also terminated 718 YouTube channels linked to alleged coordinated influence operations in Russia as part of a campaign connected to the Internet Research Agency (IRA).
The channels were allegedly “sharing content in Russian that was supportive of Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin and critical of Ukraine and the West.” Relations between Russia and the West have strained this year following Moscow’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February.
Eight YouTube channels were pulled and two domains were also blocked from appearing on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of the probe over links to Russia, Google said…. (Excerpt from The Epoch Times)
