RT Editor In Chief Margarita Simonyan criticized YouTube’s decision and called on the Russian government to ban German state media in Russia. (file photo)
YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by U.S. giant Google, has deleted two German-language channels managed by Russia’s state-owned media company RT.
Dinara Toktosunova, who runs RT DE, one of the two channels, first made the announcement on Telegram on September 28.
Google said it deleted RT DE and Der Fehlende Part because they had published what it called “misinformation” about COVID-19.
The tech giant said it warned RT DE that it was violating its rules and temporarily blocked its ability to publish.
When RT tried to evade the ban by publishing the material on Der Fehlende Part, it deleted both of them, YouTube spokesperson told Germany’s Deutsche Welle agency.
YouTube told Deutsche Welle that it does not allow content on its platform that "contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19."
The United States and Europe have previously accused Russia of spreading false information about COVID-19 in an attempt to undermine confidence in vaccines.
RT Editor In Chief Margarita Simonyan criticized YouTube’s decision and called on the Russian government to ban German state media in Russia.