Youtube, Facebook, Instagram Block Russian Media Outlets RT, Sputnik In Europe After EU Leaders Demand Ban On 'Kremlin’s Media Machine'

YouTube has blocked RT and Sputnik channels for all European users, Alphabet Inc announced on Tuesday (Mar 1).

The block came with immediate effect, the statement said, citing the “ongoing war in Ukraine.”

RT International has significant presence in Youtube with more than 4.66 million subscribers.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced on Monday (Feb 28) that it has blocked RT and Sputnik on both Instagram and Facebook based on requests received so from a number of governments in the EU.

YouTube had already stopped these outlets from monetising on its platform via advertising and restricted access to these channels in Ukraine itself.

In an open letter, the leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, claimed that Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter had become accessories to Russian aggression by allowing the country space on their sites and apps.

The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also said that the bloc would ban “the Kremlin’s media machine.”

In retaliatory measure, Russia blocked access to a number of US tech platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.