YouTube bows to Russian censorship against a channel about fallen Ukrainian soldiers

Vladimir Putin's dictatorship not only manages to impose its censorship within Russia, but also beyond its borders.

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Often, this censorship is achieved by using bot networks to launch mass reports, which some social media platforms use to suppress content that displeases the Kremlin. For years, this situation has been repeated on various social media platforms without their owners implementing effective measures to prevent such actions, meaning that the Russian dictatorship is succeeding in curtailing freedom of expression in the West as well.

This Monday, Kateryna Maiboroda, deputy director of the "Memorial of Heroes" project, denounced YouTube's censorship of one of the channels of this initiative that commemorates Ukrainian soldiers who died defending their country. In a message posted this morning on her Instagram profile, Maiboroda commented:

"Our channel was deleted five times this month. The official reason given was 'spam and fraud.' No examples, no sense. But we filed appeals, and the channel was reinstated within 10-15 minutes. For the sixth time, YT wrote that the decision cannot be appealed."

Maiboroda points out that the censored channel included 18 documentaries about Russian attacks on Ukraine and nearly 100 videos commemorating fallen defenders. The deputy director of "Memorial of Heroes" explains the Kremlin's modus operandi in cases like this: "They destroy even the memories of those they killed. We need publicity and contacts of people who can communicate directly with YouTube about the error." So far, there have been no updates on the matter.

This initiative is based on the website Memorial.ua, which compiles the history of Ukrainian soldiers who died defending against the Russian invaders, as well as the civilians killed by the occupiers. Memorial.ua explains its mission as follows:

"Memorial creates a new culture of memory in Ukraine. The platform's team uses modern formats, studies international experiences, promotes debates, works both online and in person, and is open to collaborations and partnerships. We bring together around the platform those for whom the issue of preserving memory is as important as it is for us."

Regarding Russian censorship on social media, the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Independent notes: "The mass reporting of Ukrainian channels and social media accounts is only one of many widely documented tactics used by Russian disinformation networks, which often employ hundreds of bot accounts."

I can say that Counting Stars has suffered a similar situation on its YouTube channels, with videos about defending Ukraine being censored without any reason after mass reports from Russian automated accounts. So far, YouTube has not reinstated any of the censored videos and continues to offer no solutions to these censorship practices, which clearly serve the Kremlin's interests in imposing its narrative about the invasion of Ukraine.

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Photo: Memorial.ua.