Google clamps down 210 YouTube channels over Hong Kong protest
Nneka Nwogwugwu
As a result of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, triggered by controversial legislation to extradite those convicted of crimes to mainland China and Taiwan, Google has shut down 210 channels from one of its platform, YouTube, because of uploaded contents related to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
Google’s Director of Security Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, on Thursday, said this on Google Public Policy blog post, that the channels were disabled earlier in the week “when we discovered channels in this network behaved in a coordinated manner while uploading videos related to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.’’
‘’This discovery was consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter’’ he wrote.
Huntley, disclosed that Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and other methods to disguise the origin of these accounts were used including other activities commonly associated with coordinated influence operations.
He stressed that the actions are part of Google’s continuing efforts to protect the integrity of their platforms and the security and privacy of our users.
Huntley stated, “Each month, our Threat Analysis Group sends more than 4,000 warnings to our users about attempts by government-backed attackers or other illicit actors to infiltrate their accounts. This is the warning we send if we detect such an attempt.’’
He also revealed that Google has announced this week, to take action to protect users in Kazakhstan after credible reports that its citizens were required to download and install a government-issued certificate on all devices and in every browser.
The Hong kong protests started since June 2019, but the protests have mushroomed into a broader backlash against the government amid fears of the growing control of China’s Communist party.
Meanwhile, Weeks of demonstrations started on Sunday, June 9, when a procession of people including lawyers, journalists, activists and business figures, joined in widespread protests, almost two miles long marched for seven hours through central Hong Kong
In August 2019 operations at Hong Kong airport were suspended for two days after protesters occupied terminal buildings.
Tuesday 13th saw the fifth consecutive day of sit-ins at the airport, with protesters demanding greater democratic freedoms and opposing Chinese influence in the territory.
