Why hasn’t Russia banned YouTube?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 29 July 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
YouTube, which is owned by Google, is one of the rare Western social media platforms that is not banned by Russia. Neal Mohan, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, discusses the fine line between disinformation and censorship – and explains why banning fake news channels isn’t always the best way forward.
Lucy and Vitaly are joined by the BBC's disinformation reporter Marianna Spring. Together, they speak to Sergei Buntman, from the independent Russian radio station, Ekho Moskvy. The station was taken off air on 1st March. It now operates on YouTube.
And they hear from journalist Konstantin Ryzhenko, who decided to stay in Kherson under Russian occupation, but is now a wanted man by the Russians and has to remain in hiding.
The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The producers are Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. Planning producer is Louise Hidalgo. The technical producer is Emma Crowe. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Hello, it's 156 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.8 | And nearly every day when we're deciding on what angle we should cover on Ukraine, I make |
| 0:15.9 | a bit of a mental note, go back to the basics, ask some of my contributors what's actually |
| 0:21.4 | happening on the ground across Ukraine. |
| 0:24.4 | Who is actually winning this war? |
| 0:27.3 | For Tali, who is winning this war? |
| 0:30.0 | In military terms, neither side is making much progress. |
| 0:35.4 | They pommel each other, people are getting killed, but nobody is making any important |
| 0:42.3 | gains at all. |
| 0:44.6 | I think it's fair to say that everybody is losing this war. |
| 0:48.5 | Russia is losing it because its reputation is in tatters. |
| 0:53.4 | This social and economic development has been thrown back years, if not decades. |
| 0:59.3 | Ukraine's losing this war because its people are getting killed. |
| 1:04.5 | And humanity itself is losing this war because it's a daily atrocity. |
| 1:09.4 | Today, we've seen horrible pictures emerging on social media after modern 50 Ukrainian |
| 1:18.7 | prisoners of war were reportedly killed in a missile strike on Donetsk region. |
| 1:27.4 | There was also a horrible video also circulating on social media showing apparently showing |
| 1:35.1 | a Ukrainian soldier being castrated by a Russian soldier. |
| 1:41.0 | And Michael I have in Ukraine, at least five people were killed, and the pictures show |
| 1:49.2 | them lying in the streets next to their dead dogs because apparently they were walking |
| 1:56.0 | their dogs when they were killed. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.