Pro-Russia propaganda defies platform bans

Analysis by ISD OSINT Analyst Elise Thomas was included in Coda Story‘s weekly newsletter, Disinfo Matters. Elise’s investigation found that despite the bans in place, state-controlled Russia Today’s content is available on YouTube. It also drew on our findings that RT content is sometimes disguised under a different banner.

The Dispatch Russia Today Digs Deep to Stay on YouTube focuses on how previously banned videos had resurfaced under the name ‘Dig Deep Documentary’. The content was practically identical, except for Dig Deep Documentary branding where RT logos had been previously placed.

The RT YouTube channel had racked up billions of views before being banned in March 2022, and this copycat channel appears to be capitalising on the content’s previous success of the platform.