DISINFO: YouTube – like Facebook and Twitter – aims to censor pro-Chinese views on the protests in Hong Kong
SUMMARY
YouTube – like Facebook and Twitter – aims to censor pro-Chinese views on the protests in Hong Kong. This is why YouTube has recently disabled 210 channels which publish “inadequate” views of such protests. The three social media companies seek to censor content which is supportive of Russia, China, Syria, Iran, Venezuela and other countries considered unfriendly by the US.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming Western media and social networks censor content which is supportive of Russia, China, Syria and other governments considered unfriendly by the US, or critical of dominant Western narratives.
YouTube’s decision to take down 210 channels spreading disinformation came after the Google-owned service disclosed that channels in this network behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos related to the Hong Kong protests and appeared to be part of a coordinated influence campaign backed by the Chinese government.
According to Shane Huntley of Google’s security threat analysis group, as quoted by The Guardian, this discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter.
Twitter had already uncovered more than 900 accounts originating from the People’s Republic of China that were “deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong,” the company said, and an additional network of 200,000 accounts that were part of a broader spam campaign. Facebook subsequently said it found seven pages, three groups, and five accounts it believed were involved in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” out of China focused on Hong Kong. More than 15,000 accounts followed at least one of the pages, and about 2,200 joined one of the groups.