The Kremlin cried foul Friday after a Russian media outlet known as the Federal News Agency accused Google of blocking its YouTube account and deleting thousands of its videos.
Also known as FAN, the Federal News Agency has previously been tied to the Russian “troll farm” accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential race and 2018 midterm elections.
FAN’s account on YouTube abruptly vanished Friday, which the outlet claimed afterward to be the result of Google subjecting it to “political censorship.”
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, subsequently described the YouTube account’s disappearance as “unacceptable,” state-run media reported later Friday.
“We hope that the relevant decisions will be reviewed,” Mr. Peskov told reporters, according to the TASS news agency.
FAN describes itself on its website as being “dedicated to socio-political life in Russia and in the world” and claims to publish an average of over 300 new articles each day.
But much of FAN’s output can easily be categorized as pro-Russian or anti-American propaganda, and the outlet has previously been connected to the Internet Research Agency, or IRA, the so-called “troll farm” that the U.S. Department of Justice has accused of interfering in the 2016 and 2018 elections.
FAN and the IRA have previously been found to share the same physical address and internet infrastructure, and the Justice Department has alleged that both entities are part of “Project Lakhta,” a broader Russian operation accused of engaging in “political and electoral interference,” including efforts to meddle in the 2016 and 2018 races.
Content published recently on the FAN website includes an article that claims the U.S. military has recruited “rapist and arms dealers” for missions in Syria, and another that says “a number of experts” have stated that the global novel coronavirus pandemic has its origins in a Pentagon laboratory.
In an unsigned editorial published Friday, FAN said that “tens of thousands” of its videos were destroyed as a result of having its YouTube channel blocked by Google.
YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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