Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Google 'pauses' Russian state media monetization across platforms
Washington, Feb 27 (AFP) Feb 27, 2022
Google on Saturday became the latest US tech giant to prevent Russian state media from earning money on its platforms in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

It follows similar moves by its YouTube subsidiary and Facebook.

"In response to the war in Ukraine, we are pausing Google monetization of Russian state-funded media across our platforms," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

"We're actively monitoring new developments and will take further steps if necessary."

The move was revealed hours after YouTube announced it would block certain Russian media channels from monetizing their videos, among other restrictions.

"In light of extraordinary circumstances in Ukraine, we're taking a number of actions," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

"Our teams have started to pause the ability for certain channels to monetize on YouTube, including RT's YouTube channels globally," the spokesperson said, referring to the Russian state-funded news outlet.

YouTube channels earn money through ads that appear when users watch their videos.

On Friday, Facebook also said it was banning Russian state media from running ads and monetizing through its platform.

Nations around the globe issued broad sanctions against Russian businesses, banks and officials after Moscow invaded Ukraine on Thursday.

"As always, our teams are continuing to monitor closely for new developments, including evaluating what any new sanctions and export controls may mean for YouTube," the platform's spokesperson said.

In addition to restricting monetization, YouTube added it would limit recommendations to the same channels and is "continuing to actively surface authoritative news content" in Russia- and Ukraine-related search results.

Videos from RT and a number of other channels will also be "restricted" by YouTube, the company said.

At the beginning of February, Germany banned RT, which prompted Russia to close the Moscow bureau of German media outlet Deutsche Welle.

RT, created in 2005 under the name "Russia Today," is regularly accused by Western authorities of contributing to disinformation.

YouTube noted that over the past few days it has removed hundreds of channels, including some for "coordinated deceptive practices," the term the company uses for disinformation.

des/sw/cwl/mtp


GOOGLE

Meta


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Private US, Japanese lunar landers launch on single rocket
SpaceX set for seventh test of Starship megarocket
H3 Varda's Second Spacecraft W-2 Successfully Launched to Orbit with SpaceX

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Engineering quantum entanglement at the nanoscale
Nano rainbows advance the light spectrum at the nanoscale
How Beijing is seeking to jump-start wavering economy

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Future vision outlined for the Air Force and Space Force in 2050
BlackSky secures extended contract with NRO for advanced Gen-2 imagery services
China's Smart Dragon 3 rocket launches satellites from sea

24/7 News Coverage
Crop switching boosts climate resilience in Chinese agriculture
Nick Sokol: Growing a sustainable future
Rice researchers unveil 'surprising' breakthrough in carbon nanotube recycling


All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.