In February 2024, without warning, YouTube deleted the account of independent British journalist Robert Inlakesh. His YouTube page featured dozens of videos documenting Israel's military occupation of the West Bank. All that footage was gone.
The tech giant initially claimed Inlakesh's account violated YouTube's community guidelines. Months later, Google justified his account termination by alleging his page contained spam or scam content. However, nearly two years after his account was deleted, YouTube provided a separate explanation for the termination: a connection to an Iranian influence campaign.
YouTube declined to provide evidence to support this claim, stating that the company doesn't discuss how it detects influence operations. Inlakesh remains unable to make new Google accounts, preventing him from sharing his video journalism on the largest English-language video platform.
Even though Inlakesh worked for the Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV in 2019-2021, he claimed that his independent content should not have been deleted. The vast majority of his videos predated or postdated his stint at Press TV.
In July 2023, YouTube deleted Inlakesh's private backup account. Google, YouTube's parent company, later deleted his Google account, including his Gmail and archive of documents and writings. Google claimed that Inlakesh's account was terminated due to "scam, deceptive or spam content."
YouTube initially accused Inlakesh of "severe or repeated violations of our Community Guidelines." However, an internal response from Google stated that Inlakesh's account had been terminated owing to "scam, deceptive or spam content."
A YouTube spokesperson later claimed that Inlakesh's channel was terminated in February 2024 as part of their ongoing investigations into coordinated influence operations backed by the Iranian state. The termination meant all other accounts associated with Inlakesh were also deleted.
When asked for evidence to support this claim, a YouTube spokesperson replied that they don't "disclose specifics of how we detect coordinated influence operations." Instead, they referred The Intercept to Google's Threat Analysis Group quarterly bulletins.
The Threat Analysis Group's bulletin states that in February 2024, 37 YouTube channels were deleted due to an investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iran. Four of the terminated accounts shared content critical of the Israeli government and its actions in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Critics argue that such censorship is part of a pattern of pro-Israeli censorship among Big Tech companies. Google has been accused of deleting content related to Palestine and criticizing Israel, as well as censoring journalists who cover sensitive topics.
YouTube's community guidelines have become increasingly subjective, leading to inconsistent and vague explanations for account terminations. The company initially claimed Inlakesh violated their guidelines but later justified his termination with dubious claims about Iranian influence operations.
Many experts believe that such actions amount to censorship and are detrimental to free speech. Journalists like Robert Inlakesh play a crucial role in holding powerful governments accountable, and their work should be protected, not deleted without evidence or due process.
The tech giant initially claimed Inlakesh's account violated YouTube's community guidelines. Months later, Google justified his account termination by alleging his page contained spam or scam content. However, nearly two years after his account was deleted, YouTube provided a separate explanation for the termination: a connection to an Iranian influence campaign.
YouTube declined to provide evidence to support this claim, stating that the company doesn't discuss how it detects influence operations. Inlakesh remains unable to make new Google accounts, preventing him from sharing his video journalism on the largest English-language video platform.
Even though Inlakesh worked for the Iranian state-owned media organization Press TV in 2019-2021, he claimed that his independent content should not have been deleted. The vast majority of his videos predated or postdated his stint at Press TV.
In July 2023, YouTube deleted Inlakesh's private backup account. Google, YouTube's parent company, later deleted his Google account, including his Gmail and archive of documents and writings. Google claimed that Inlakesh's account was terminated due to "scam, deceptive or spam content."
YouTube initially accused Inlakesh of "severe or repeated violations of our Community Guidelines." However, an internal response from Google stated that Inlakesh's account had been terminated owing to "scam, deceptive or spam content."
A YouTube spokesperson later claimed that Inlakesh's channel was terminated in February 2024 as part of their ongoing investigations into coordinated influence operations backed by the Iranian state. The termination meant all other accounts associated with Inlakesh were also deleted.
When asked for evidence to support this claim, a YouTube spokesperson replied that they don't "disclose specifics of how we detect coordinated influence operations." Instead, they referred The Intercept to Google's Threat Analysis Group quarterly bulletins.
The Threat Analysis Group's bulletin states that in February 2024, 37 YouTube channels were deleted due to an investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iran. Four of the terminated accounts shared content critical of the Israeli government and its actions in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Critics argue that such censorship is part of a pattern of pro-Israeli censorship among Big Tech companies. Google has been accused of deleting content related to Palestine and criticizing Israel, as well as censoring journalists who cover sensitive topics.
YouTube's community guidelines have become increasingly subjective, leading to inconsistent and vague explanations for account terminations. The company initially claimed Inlakesh violated their guidelines but later justified his termination with dubious claims about Iranian influence operations.
Many experts believe that such actions amount to censorship and are detrimental to free speech. Journalists like Robert Inlakesh play a crucial role in holding powerful governments accountable, and their work should be protected, not deleted without evidence or due process.
this is so messed up I feel bad for robert inlakesh he was just doing his job as an independent journalist but youtube is like super strict about what content they allow online its all about control and it affects a lot of people who want to share their voices without being silenced 
google & youtube need to step up their game and give us some real answers why his account got deleted like 3 times already! 
what's the point of having community guidelines if they're just gonna use them as an excuse for censorship?! 
what's going on with YouTube these days? first they delete some guy's account saying it's spam, then months later it's something else entirely... Iran influence campaign? 
what's even more hilarious is when he tried to put the icing on top and it all fell off again ️
i mean who needs a perfect cake when you can have entertainment like that? anyway, back to robert inlakesh... i'm not sure how much more evidence youtube needs to provide before they just give him an account back. it's crazy how much power these companies think they have over what we can and can't say online 
, I'm so upset about this guy's account being deleted from YouTube! He was just doing his job as an independent journalist and sharing the truth about Israel's occupation of the West Bank. It's crazy that he can't even make a new Google account now 
. What if this sets a precedent for other independent journalists to get deleted too? 
YouTube's got some explaining to do on this one... 
google & youtube need 2 be more transparent about why they're deletin ppl's accounts. its not cool when u cant even make new google accounts anymore 
"The truth will set you free, but only if you're willing to tell it." - Anonymous (just thinking about all this censored journalism is making me nervous 
)
. The fact that YouTube just deletes an entire account with no explanation apart from some vague claim of Iranian influence 
is super concerning. It's like they're trying to silence a journalist who was doing important work exposing human rights abuses 
.
. First, it was for "spam" or "scam content", but later they claimed it was due to Iranian influence 
. It's like they're trying to create a narrative where Inlakesh is some kind of agent provocateur 
.
. Like, what exactly are they worried about? Is it the content itself or just the fact that it's critical of Israel? 
. The impact on free speech and journalism can't be ignored 
. We need better transparency from these tech giants and greater protection for journalists like Inlakesh 
and it's like google is hiding something from us 
anyone else think this is some kinda censorship game being played by big tech companies against journalists who dare to speak truth to power 
what if its not even true that he had some kinda tie to iran? 
they shouldnt be able to just delete peoples accounts without a good reason 
i mean what even is an influence campaign 
and why can't they just provide some evidence 
instead of saying we don't wanna disclose our secrets 
and that's not cool at all 
. And now his entire body of work is gone, including his private backup account which just got deleted too 
. I mean, who gets their account deleted without even being warned? And then you find out it's because of "Iranian influence campaign" but no concrete proof is given? That doesn't sit right with me at all. It's like they're just trying to silence someone who's speaking truth to power. 
let's not forget that journalists like inlakesh are the backbone of our democracy