Censorship by Google
Google and its subsidiary companies, such as YouTube, have removed or omitted information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.[1]
Russian invasion of Ukraine[edit]
In early March 2022, contractors who were working for Google and preparing translations for the Russian market received an update from Google: "Effective immediately, the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine could no longer be referred to as a war but rather only vaguely as 'extraordinary circumstances.'"[166][167] Thus, Google was trying to protect itself from Russian sanctions, as well as its employees from persecution within Russia, in connection with the new law, which provided up to 15 years in prison for any information about the war against Ukraine, except when officially announced by the Kremlin.[168]
Since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Google has been blocking Russian state-funded media such as RT and Sputnik,[169] and has also extended its censorship to non state-funded media outlets such as RBK by banning them entirely from the video-hosting platform YouTube. Thus said, Google has been blocking all Russian news outlets, citing that it represents a violation of their terms of services. Note that YouTube is a publicly owned forum where freedom of speech does not necessarily apply,[170] which means that Google decided to use its capabilities in this case of Russian aggression. Google also acted upon a request of the European Union.[171]