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Article

1 Sep 2019

Author:
Anthony Cuthbertson, Independent (UK)

Google shuts down 210 Youtube channels posting ‘coordinated’ disinformation about Hong Kong protests

Google has removed hundreds of YouTube channels for uploading videos in a “coordinated manner” about the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. The technology giant said 210 channels were disabled in order to protect the integrity of its platform, pointing to Chinese attempts to spread disinformation and manipulate the pro-democracy protests.

The move comes just days after Facebook and Twitter removed accounts linked to China that were being used to undermine the protests.

“Earlier this week, as part of our ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations, we disabled 210 channels on YouTube when we discovered channels in this network behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos relating to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong,” Google said in a statement.

“This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter.”…

Part of the following timelines

Hong Kong: Business actions and statements over controversial extradition bill

Hong Kong: Twitter, Facebook and Youtube crack down on alleged disinformation campaign linked to ongoing protests