YouTube Shuts German Channels of Russian Broadcaster RT

Margarita Simonyan, the head of the Russian television channel RT, listens to a question during her interview with the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 19, 2018. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Photo via AP

BERLIN—YouTube says it has shut two German channels of Russian state broadcaster RT in a move centering on alleged COVID-19 misinformation, a decision that drew threats of retaliation from Russia on Wednesday.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, said RT’s German branch had received a “strike” for uploading material that violated YouTube’s standards on COVID-19 misinformation, and as a consequence was suspended from uploading new videos to its channel.