The Moscow Times’ Russian service is reporting Tuesday that YouTube has begun removing videos about Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, with the the Google-owned video platform explaining in a statement its policies prohibit videos about “criminal and terrorist organizations”.

“We make exceptions only for educational, documentary, artistic and scientific videos if they’re accompanied by suitable context and their publication is justified,” it added. The Times of London newspaper this week reported the UK is preparing to designate Wagner a global terror organization. …

The government of Ukraine has previously complained that major media platforms like YouTube and TikTok have acted as “effective advertising platforms” for Wagner. But minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has since praised YouTube its decision to move against Wagner-related content with “lightning speed” – particularly channels with over 1 million views.

[I understand why Google/Alphabet (which owns YouTube) would make that call, but I’m not sure why Wagner Group would use YouTube. For some reason it still works in Russia, or did as late as this March, but none other than Yevgeny Prigozhin has openly criticized Vladimir Putin for not blocking it. If the issue is recruitment, Prigozhin would be more likely to publish on Russia-friendly platforms to recruit Russians, not in the West to recruit westerners. Wagner’s propaganda is clearly intended for other reasons, which is why it may have run afoul of Google/Alphabet’s “misinformation” censors. I’d say it’s better to let both sides have their say in this matter — and it has worked out all right thus far on that policy — but it’s tough to suppress legit voices in America while allowing Prigozhin’s propagandists full rein. — Ed]