Russia’s Foreign Ministry has threatened harsh retaliatory measures towards YouTube after the video sharing service suspended two German-language accounts run by Russian state media, based on a report from Russia’s TASS information outlet. Russia went as far as to name the suspensions “information warfare.”

The YouTube accounts, RT Germany and Der Fehlende Part, had been reportedly deleted after spreading misinformation concerning the covid-19 pandemic and had a mixed subscriber rely of roughly 700,000 earlier than being deleted.

RT Germany was initially suspended from posting new movies for per week after breaching YouTube’s covid-19 misinformation rules, however the account was deleted fully after RT allegedly uploaded the content material once more to a different channel known as Der Fehlende Part, or “The Missing Part,” in English.

“Considering the nature of the incident, which is fully in line with the logic of the information warfare unleashed against Russia, taking retaliatory symmetrical measures against the German media in Russia would seem not just an appropriate, but also a necessary thing to do, especially taking into account that [the German media] were caught interfering into our country’s domestic affairs on several occasions in the past,” the Russian Foreign Ministry mentioned in an announcement to TASS on Tuesday.

“Considering that multiple requests for returning to compliance with international obligations to protect media freedoms and the freedom of speech were ignored by the German side, we view such measures as the only possible way to encourage our partners to engage in a constructive and meaningful dialogue about this unacceptable situation,” the assertion continued.

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It’s not clear whether or not “retaliatory measures” towards YouTube would come with banning the web site in Russia, however the authorities has made related threats earlier than—together with in 2020 when YouTube posted notices on movies that had been uploaded by state-sponsored media.

The editor-in-chief of RT, Margarita Simonyan, called for not just sanctions against YouTube, but a ban on German broadcasters in Russia, such as state-media channel DW.

“I really look forward to the fact that my native state will, without delay, ban Deutsche Welle and other German media outlets in Russia, and close the bureaus of [German broadcasters] ARD and ZDF. I’m keeping quiet about sanctions against YouTube itself. Though we should do this, out of self-respect,” Simonyan mentioned on Telegram, based on an English translation by Russia’s Meduza information outlet.

While Alphabet-owned YouTube reportedly banned the 2 Russian accounts over covid-19 misinformation, RT’s English language channel highlighted YouTube guidelines towards questioning the current German election results on Tuesday.

Election misinformation is yet one more matter that YouTube has struggled to manage lately, fairly notably within the U.S. after former President Donald Trump took energy. Russian President Vladimir Putin infamously wanted Trump to win in 2016 and RT’s U.S. channel was crammed with pro-Trump propaganda in an effort to get him elected.

Whatever the precise reason for YouTube’s ban on RT Germany, Russia clearly doesn’t believe that YouTube’s actions are simply a matter of internal corporate policy, but a battleground in the New Cold War.

“The goal of this aggression against the Russian media holding’s projects is evident: to silence information sources that go beyond the media agenda that German officials find convenient,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

YouTube didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark early Wednesday however Gizmodo will replace this submit if we hear again.