In a surprising move, nearly 2,500 YouTube channels linked to China were removed after Google announced it would clean up false information on the video-sharing platform. According to GizChina, these video channels were removed in the second quarter of 2020 and reportedly often posted spam content. Recently, the US government is considering a move to remove all Chinese apps from Apple’s App Store.
Explaining in its quarterly newsletter, Google says these channels were removed between April and June as part of its ongoing investigations of influence-related coordination. China.
The social media analysis company Graphika has identified this disinformation campaign which will begin in April. YouTube channels associated with this activity often post spam and apolitical content. YouTube does not list channels and offers several other details, except linking videos to related activities that are recognized by Twitter.