Google Europe says it is blocking YouTube channels associated with pro-Kremlin Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik across Europe amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Google, which owns YouTube, said in a tweet on March 1 that the move will take effect immediately, though “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”
“Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” it added.
The move by Google comes hours before European Union members are expected to green light sanctions proposed by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, by restricting their access to the European media market regardless of their distribution channel.
On February 27, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said RT and Sputnik are part of the “the Kremlin’s media machine” and the EU would move “to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”
The sanctions are expected to prohibit EU operators from publishing any content from the two outlets in any form. The measures would include transmission or distribution via cable, satellite, IPTV, Internet video-sharing platforms or applications, whether new or preinstalled, according to Thierry Breton, the bloc’s internal market commissioner.
RT’s main YouTube channel has more than 4.5 million subscribers.
