YouTube bans Russia Today, Sputnik and connected Russian media channels in Europe

Google has banned the YouTube channels of Russia Today and Sputnik in Europe.

“Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we’re blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately,” Google said in a tweet.

“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.”

Visitors to the channel saw a message reading: “This channel is not available in your country.” Similar messages appeared in countries across Europe.

The ban came as European leaders took steps to ban the channel from other methods, such as broadcast and satellite TV.

And YouTube’s decision to ban RT and Sputnik came after Facebook owner Meta said that it would be restricting access to the pages of the media companies 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,” said Nick Clegg, its vice president for global affairs.

“We will continue to work closely with Governments on this issue.”