Google blocks Russian parliament YouTube channel

Google has blocked Russia’s Duma TV YouTube channel, according to Reuters. On Saturday, the company said it had “terminated” the channel, which airs meetings of Russia’s lower house of parliament, for a violation of the platform’s terms of service.

“If we find that an account violates our Terms of Service, we take appropriate action,” a Google spokesperson told the outlet. “Our teams are closely monitoring the situation for any updates and changes.” The company added it was committed to complying with sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The suspension quickly drew the ire of Russian officials, with a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry warning YouTube had “signed its own warrant.” Russia’s Roskomnadzor telecom regulator condemned the move and ordered Google to restore Duma TV’s YouTube access immediately. “The American IT company adheres to a pronounced anti-Russian position in the information war unleashed by the West against our country,” the agency said.

The response from Russian authorities suggests YouTube could become the latest Western internet service to face restrictions within the country. Shortly after the war in Ukraine began on February 24th, Russia moved to block access to Twitter. In March, it then cut off Facebook and Instagram – but not WhatsApp due to the chat app’s popularity among Russian citizens. It subsequently found the Meta-owned services guilty of “extremist” activity after the company said it would temporarily allow calls of violence in Ukraine and a handful of other countries.

Twitter won’t let government-affiliated accounts tweet photos of POWs

Twitter is once again tightening its rules to address how its platform is handling the war in Ukraine. The company said Tuesday that it will no longer allow official government or government-affiliated accounts to tweet photos of prisoners of war “in the context of the war in Ukraine.”

The policy will apply to photos published “on or after April 5th,” according to an update in Twitter’s rules. Government accounts sharing such images will be required to delete them, said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Head of Site Integrity. “Beginning today, we will require the removal of Tweets posted by government or state-affiliated media accounts which share media that depict prisoners of war in the context of the war in Ukraine,” Roth said.

“We’re doing so in line with international humanitarian law, and in consultation with international human rights groups. To protect essential reporting on the war, some exceptions apply under this guidance where there is a compelling public interest or newsworthy POW content.”

In a blog post, the company added that in cases in which there is a “compelling public interest” for a government account to share photos of prisoners of war, it would add interstitial warnings to the images.

While the new rules apply to official government and government-affiliated accounts, Twitter noted that it will take down POW photos shared by anyone with “with abusive intent, such as insults, calls for retaliation, mocking/taking pleasure in suffering of PoWs, or for any other behavior that violates the Twitter rules.”

Additionally, Twitter is taking new steps to limit the reach of Russian government accounts on its platform. Under a new policy, the company will no longer “amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict,” Roth said. “This measure drastically reduces the chance that people on Twitter see Tweets from these accounts unless they follow them.”

It’s not yet clear if or how Twitter plans to enforce this policy for contexts other than the war in Ukraine. In a blog post, the company left open the possibility that it would apply the rules to situations “beyond interstate armed conflict” but didn’t elaborate.

“Attempts by states to limit or block access to free information within their borders are uniquely harmful, and run counter to Twitter’s belief in healthy and open public conversation,” the company wrote. “We’re committed to treating conversations about global conflicts more equitably, and we’ll continue to evaluate whether this policy may be applied in other contexts, beyond interstate armed conflict.”

The changes are the latest way Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Twitter to adapt its content moderation rules as tries to suppress Russia-backed disinformation. The company has already taken steps to limit the visibility of Russian state media outlets and turned off advertising and recommendations in both Russia and Ukraine. Russia has blocked Twitter since March 4th.

This website allows Westerners to talk to Russians about the war in Ukraine

With the Kremlin restricting access to online platforms like Twitter and Instagram in recent days, people in Russia are quickly losing access to information about the war in Ukraine that doesn’t come from the government. Enter Squad303, a website creat…

YouTube is blocking Russian state media channels worldwide

YouTube says it will now block channels linked to Russia-backed media outlets worldwide. Last week, it blocked channels from the likes of RT and Sputnik in Europe following an EU directive. The updated policy takes effect immediately, though YouTube’s systems will take a little time to fully block the channels.

The service also said “denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events” is not allowed under its Community Guidelines. YouTube is taking down videos about the conflict in Ukraine that violate the rule. On Thursday, Twitter and Facebook removed posts from Russia’s embassy in the UK that denied the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.

YouTube has also deleted more than 1,000 channels and over 15,000 videos related to Russia’s invasion ok Ukraine for violating various policies, such as those on hate speech, misinformation and graphic content. Google stopped all ad sales in Russia last week and it has now paused all YouTube monetization and payments in the country.

YouTube says it may take further action in Russia as the conflict continues. In addition, it’s directing users to trusted sources of news regarding the invasion.

Facebook will ‘temporarily’ allow Ukrainians to call for the death of Putin and Russian soldiers

Facebook is changing a rule that prohibits users from calling for violence in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The change, which was first reported byReuters, allows people in Ukraine and a handful of other countries “to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion.” People in Ukraine, Poland and Russia are also permitted to “call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.”

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement that the company was “temporarily” allowing some posts that in the past would have been taken down under the company’s rules prohibiting inciting violence. He added that the company won’t allow “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.” The company will also take down specific credible threats against Putin and Lukashenko, according to a memo reported by Reuters.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders,’” Stone said. “We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”

Russia has responded to the rule changing, saying that Washington must stop the “extremist activities” of Meta, Reuters has reported. 

The change underscores just how much social media platforms are rushing to adapt their content policies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Facebook has already taken several steps to limit the influence of Russian state media outlets and took down a network of fake accounts boosting pro-Russia propaganda. The Russian government has responded by banning Facebook.

Update 3/10/2022 2:20 AM ET: The article has been updated with Russia’s response to Meta’s new rule, reported by Reuters.

Riot Games will donate proceeds from in-game passes to Ukraine relief

Over the weekend, Riot Games announced it would respond to calls from its community to provide aid during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Until March 12th, the studio will donate all proceeds from the sale of Valorant, Legends of Runterra, Teamfight Tactics and Wild Rift battle passes, as well as its new Bee skins in League of Legends, to support humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. Additionally, Riot said it would donate $1 million out of pocket to Doctors Without Borders, the Polish Red Cross and the International Medical Corps.      

“All proceeds from both Riot’s donation and the player fundraiser will directly support humanitarian relief in Ukraine and other affected areas,” the company said. The studio joins a growing list of gaming companies that are donating toward humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. On the same day Activision Blizzard said it was halting sales of its games in Russia, the publisher announced it would also match employee donations to relief organizations helping out in the region at a rate of two to one.