YouTube closes accounts of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine
February 5, 2022, 8:00 am

YouTube closes accounts of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine

Youtube screen on computer/Pixabay

The Euronews reported, YouTube has confirmed, it has shut down the accounts used by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

A number of channels linked to the separatists were inaccessible "due to non-compliance with YouTube community rules".

The closure comes amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia over troop movements near Ukraine.

In a statement to Euronews, the American social media giant confirmed it had disabled several accounts linked to pro-Russian separatists.

A Google spokesperson said: "YouTube complies with all applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws, including with respect to content created and uploaded by restricted entities." "If we find that an account violates our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines, we disable it."

YouTube did not elaborate on which of the platform's rules the accounts had violated.

The channels affected by the move include the Lugansk People's Republic Information Centre -- the official news website of the self-proclaimed Luhansk territory.

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The website said that its YouTube channel had been shut down "without explanation".

Several other separatist channels were also closed, including the Information Ministry and "people's militia" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

Fighting broke out in the Donbas region of Ukraine in March 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

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Russia has itself regularly accused major social networks -- such as Facebook, Google or YouTube -- of violating Russian laws by failing to delete banned content.

Source: euronews

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On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

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