Google Reportedly Blocks Apps Connected to Sputnik, RT From Play App Store Across Europe

The move comes as Russia continues its special military operation to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" Ukraine following a request for assistance from the Donbass republics.

Google has blocked apps connected to Sputnik and RT from the Play app store across Europe, Reuters has reported.

Google said on Tuesday that RT- and Sputnik-related apps had been blocked in sync with the company's previous move to remove the Russian broadcasters from its news-related features.

This comes after Google stated that they are blocking YouTube channels "connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately".

The company tweeted that "it'll take time" for its systems "to fully ramp up" and that its teams "continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action".

The move was preceded by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announcing that the EU intends to ban state-run Russian media outlets, including Sputnik, RT, and their subsidiaries, as part of new sanctions slapped on Russia amid its military operation in Ukraine.

In a separate development earlier this week, Instagram and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, restricted access to Sputnik and RT across the EU.

Meta's Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg said on Twitter that they "have received requests from a number of governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state-controlled media". According to him, they "will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time given the exceptional nature of the current situation".

The Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, pointed to "the absolutely unacceptable behaviour of foreign, primarily American, IT giants such as Google and Meta", accusing the companies of conducting "hostile propaganda activities" against "Russian sources of information".

The Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor, for its part, demanded that Meta remove the block on RT and Sputnik's Facebook and Instagram accounts in Europe, noting that US IT companies "deliberately restrict access to Russian information [sources] so that users can see a one-sided picture of the Russian special operation".

Sputnik's YouTube and Instagram accounts are currently unavailable for a whole array of countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

RT and Sputnik are being targeted as Russia continues its special military operation to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" the country after a request for assistance from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which have seen weeks of intensified artillery and mortar attacks by the Ukrainian Army.

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