YouTube Bars RT, Other Russian State Media Outlets From Receiving Ad Revenue

Wilson Chapman editorOksana Shvets, an acclaimed Ukrainian film and theater actor, has died in a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in Kyiv. Her death was announced by the Young Theater, where she had been a troupe member since 1980. The Kyiv Post also confirmed her death.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterIn “The War of the Worlds,” Tom Cruise flees an alien invasion in a Plymouth minivan. The camera swoops around and around, capturing the drama inside the van as it swerves through traffic, and rising from a point below the bumper to look down on the chaos from high above.That shot was made possible by the Russian Arm, a gyro-stabilized crane mounted on the roof of a car. The technology was introduced in the late 1990s, and has become a mainstay of the “Fast and Furious” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises as well as Marvel and DC superhero films such as “Black Widow” and “Wonder Woman.” Whenever there’s a car chase or a cavalry charge or a stampede of giant robots, the director calls for the Russian Arm.

A twisted Russian politician has urged Vladimir Putin to fire "a ballistic missile" at the largest weapons testing site in the US as a warning against interfering in the country's affairs.

Influencers in Russia are speaking out about the Instagram ban in the country amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Instagram's ban went into effect Monday. Popular social media stars who have amassed millions of followers posted tearful videos in which they hinted that their livelihoods as they knew it have been upended.

Brent Renaud, an acclaimed filmmaker who traveled to some of the darkest and most dangerous corners of the world for documentaries that transported audiences to little-known places of suffering, died Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle in Ukraine.

Sacha Baron Cohen has called out social media platforms for not blocking Russia’s state TV network amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine.In a post on Twitter, the actor criticised the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube – Mark Zuckerbeg, Parag Agrawal, Sundar Pichai and Susan Wojcick respectively – and urged them to remove the network RT from their platforms.“Putin just bombed a children’s hospital, but @Facebook, @Instagram, @Twitter & @YouTube are still showing Russia’s state-run RT,” Cohen wrote.“Why are you profiting off Putin’s propaganda?! Remove Russia RT from your platforms NOW!”Hey Mark, @paraga,@sundarpichai, @SusanWojcicki Putin just bombed a children’s hospital, but @Facebook, @instagram @Twitter & @YouTube are still showing Russia's state-run RTWhy are you profiting off Putin's propaganda?!Remove Russia RT from your platforms NOW! pic.twitter.com/W0wkWKAZpX— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) March 9, 2022NME has reached out to representatives for all the respective companies.As posted on the updates blog for Meta – the rebrand of Facebook who also own Instagram – the company states they have restricted access to RT and Sputnik in Ukraine, the UK and across the EU.In an update on March 1, the blog reads: “In addition to restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU, we are now globally demoting content from Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts from Russian state-controlled media outlets and making them harder to find across our platforms. “We have also begun to demote posts that contain links to Russian state-controlled media websites on Facebook.

Salford's mayor has called on the government to sanction Gazprom and to make it easier for councils to exclude the Russian gas firm from the usual contract tendering process.

The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has added to the film community voices addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ethan Shanfeld The American branch of Russian state-funded media network Russia Today (RT) is shutting down and laying off most of its staff, CNN reports.According to a memo, RT America will be “ceasing production” due to “unforeseen business interruption events.”“Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations,” the memo said (via CNN).Per CNN, Misha Solodovnikov, the general manager of T&R Productions, the production company behind RT, delivered the news in person to hosts, correspondents, producers and others in the Washington, D.C. bureau.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorReddit has banned users from posting links to Kremlin-affiliated outlets such as RT and Sputnik, joining a growing number of internet companies in blocking Russian state media amid that country’s attack on Ukraine.“While many communities on Reddit already prohibited links to Russian state media outlets like RT, Sputnik, and their foreign-language affiliates, we have made such restrictions universal across the site in all geographies,” Reddit said in a statement.In addition, the popular discussion-community site said, it will “continue not to accept advertisements that target Russia or originate from any Russia-based entity, government or private.” Reddit said it’s assisting affected employees in Ukraine, including providing advanced income payments and housing allowances and supporting their relocation. Reddit joins other internet media platforms that have restricted or blocked Russian state-controlled media in recent days, including YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and Spotify.“The conflict in Ukraine has been shocking and upsetting,” Reddit said in a March 2 blog post.

The National Association of Broadcasters is calling on stations to stop carrying any state-sponsored Russian programming, citing the invasion of Ukraine.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMeta, the tech giant that controls the Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram social media platforms, said that it has restricted access to Russian state media within the European Union. The moves are intended to limit the spread of Russian propaganda during the country’s invasion of Ukraine.“We have received requests from a number of governments and the European Union to take further steps in relation to Russian state-controlled media.

Twitter will label tweets that link to content from Russian state-affiliated media websites amid concerns over the spread of disinformation.

The Stockholm Film Festival, due to run November 9-20, says it will not program any films that benefit from Russian state funding due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.