"Google rejects Poland’s complaints over Israel’s “manipulated” YouTube videos about Gaza", 15 September 2025

The Polish foreign ministry has revealed that Google has rejected complaints over a series of YouTube videos in Polish published by the Israeli embassy, which Poland says are spreading “manipulated or false content” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza...

In late July and early August, the embassy posted six videos claiming that Israel is providing large amounts of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, that stories about starvation are Hamas propaganda uncritically shared by international media, and that it is the UN which is blocking aid trucks from entering Gaza.

Those were followed in late August by two further videos aiming to show that there is indeed no lack of food in Gaza...

...factcheckers from various media outlets – including Deutsche Welle and France 24 – note that they give a misleading impression of the situation and do not disprove famine in Gaza...

...the Polish government said it was powerless to take action against the YouTube videos published by Israel.

However...the Polish Press Agency (PAP) revealed that the head of the foreign ministry’s department for countering disinformation spoke with Israeli ambassador Yaakov Finkelstein about the issue...

...at the ministry’s request, the Disinformation Analysis Centre (DOA) at NASK, a state body subordinate to the digital affairs ministry, submitted complaints to Google...

“In their submission, NASK DOA experts pointed to manipulated or false content in Google ads and videos on YouTube channels, which – according to the platform’s community guidelines – should result in the content being withdrawn,” confirmed NASK in a statement to Rzeczpospolita.

However, “Google responded that the promoted materials were consistent with its policies and values”, the foreign ministry told the newspaper.

Asked why it had taken action over the issue, the ministry said that “one of [our] tasks is to counteract foreign interference and manipulation in the information environment”.