In a statement to newtechmania, YouTube acknowledged that it had removed Tenet Media and four other channels from its platform.
Indictments brought by the Department of Justice against Russia-linked media outlets in the United States were released this week. YouTube has announced that it has terminated five political channels that are considered to be on the right-wing. CNN said that Tenet Media was the unnamed company that was implicated in the indictment. The platform removed the channel of Tenet Media during the investigation. The Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that Russian agents paid the media outlet to disseminate false information with the intention of influencing the elections in the United States in 2024.
The removal of the content was confirmed by a spokeswoman for YouTube, who also offered a statement to newtechmania. According to the statement released by the firm, “We are terminating the Tenet Media channel and four channels operated by its owner Lauren Chen as part of our ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations.” This decision was made in response to an indictment brought by the United States Department of Justice followed by a thorough evaluation of the situation.
According to YouTube, the investigation into the incident is still ongoing, and the business will determine whether more steps are required as new information becomes available. During the second quarter of 2024, the firm said that it had suspended more than 4,000 YouTube channels as part of its investigation into influence activities tied to Russia. Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) collaborates with YouTube to detect malicious actors and deplatform their channels and accounts in accordance with the organization’s findings.
RT (previously Russia Today), a media outlet that is supported by the Kremlin, was the target of an indictment by the Department of Justice on Wednesday. They were accused of providing unlawful financial support to a media organization that was supported by the state of Tennessee and is now almost certainly identified as Tenet Media. The indictment filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that the founders of the media organization were aware that their money originated from the Russian government. The company Tenet Media is owned by Chen and Liam Donovan, who is also her husband.
It has been reported by the Washington Post that Tenet’s preferred venue for disseminating propaganda videos that were directed toward conservatives in the United States and included prominent right-wing personalities was YouTube. These individuals included Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, and Dave Rubin, all of whom were employed by the organization. A past candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump, have been on the channels. It has been stated that Pool and Rubin have denied any awareness of the fact that the Russian government was the source of money for Tenet.