YouTube blocks RT Deutsch channels over Covid-19 misinformation

In late September 2021, YouTube removed the channels of the Russian state broadcaster RT Deutsch for spreading Covid-19 related misinformation, affecting around 600,000 subscribers. RT Deutsch had embedded YouTube videos on its own website, making the deletion a significant blow. RT's chief editor Margarita Simonjan framed the move as part of a 'media war' by Germany against Russia, hoping for reciprocal closures of German media in Russia, though no direct state action from Germany was tied to YouTube's decision. RT has admitted involvement in an 'information war' against the West, with executives describing the global battle over information as akin to a world war. The German intelligence agency considers RT Deutsch and its affiliates as tools of Russian influence to sway public opinion in Germany. RT has also aggressively litigated critics in Europe. The broadcaster propagated misleading Covid-19 narratives during the pandemic, which were widely shared among conspiracy groups in Germany. RT Deutsch has never been publicly reprimanded by Germany's press council, partly because it never subjected itself to its oversight.