YouTube removes thousands of propaganda channels linked to China and Russia

YouTube removed nearly 11,000 channels and accounts linked to state propaganda campaigns from China, Russia and other countries in the second quarter of 2025, according to Google, which is actively fighting global disinformation operations through its Threat Analysis Group, CNBC reports.

More than 7,700 channels were associated with China. They published content in Chinese and English, supported the Chinese government, praised President Xi Jinping, and spoke out against US foreign policy. Another 2,000 channels were Russian. Their content supported the Russian Federation while simultaneously criticizing Ukraine, NATO, and Western countries.

In May, Google also took down a network associated with the Russian state-run media outlet RT. The network included 20 YouTube channels, four advertising accounts, and a blog on the Blogger platform. RT funded content creation through Tennessee-based Tenent Media, and its creators included prominent conservative bloggers who supported Donald Trump.

By the way, YouTube began blocking RT back in March 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to China and Russia, Google detected influence campaigns from Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Romania, and Ghana in the second quarter of 2025. Some of them were related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More than 23,000 accounts were removed in the first quarter, while Meta reported removing 10 million fake profiles impersonating well-known content creators.