Google Europe announced on Tuesday that YouTube channels “connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately” are being blocked.
According to a company statement posted on Twitter, “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”.
The move comes after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU intends to ban state-owned Russian media sites, including Sputnik, RT, and their subsidiaries, as part of new sanctions placed on Russia in the aftermath of its military campaign in Ukraine.
On Monday, Instagram, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, restricted access to Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster across the EU.
“We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state-controlled media. Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time,” Meta’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg said on Twitter on Monday.
Furthermore, the TikTok accounts of Russia-affiliated media resources, including RT and Sputnik, are now unavailable to users in the EU, according to reports.
Forsided, 01.03.2022