YouTube disables 200 videos attacking Hong Kong protests

SAN FRANCISCO – YouTube says it disabled more than 200 videos this week that appeared to be part of a co-ordinated effort to spread misinformation about the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

The video removals come just days after Twitter said it had suspended more than 200,000 accounts it linked to a Chinese government influence campaign against the protests. Facebook also said it had suspended accounts and removed pages after being notified by Twitter.

Google, which owns YouTube, did not explicitly implicate the Chinese government but said the videos were related to the similar disclosures from Facebook and Twitter.

Social media companies have faced criticism about the spread of misinformation on their sites and have taken actions to combat the spread in recent months.