Google shut down 449 YouTube channels in South Korea during the second quarter of 2026 over politically charged content, according to a report from the company’s Threat Analysis Group.
The report, titled “Influence Operations Bulletin Q2 2026,” said Google terminated 22 Korean-language YouTube channels in April, followed by 367 in May and another 60 in June. May accounted for the largest share of the closures, coming shortly before South Korea’s June 3 local elections.
According to the report, the channels were removed for publishing content that was either critical or supportive of the South Korean government, as well as material expressing support for or opposition to political parties and political figures in the country.
Google had not terminated any South Korean YouTube channels between the second quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. During the same period, the company reported shutting down 9,173 channels linked to China and 2,083 linked to Russia.
The development comes as South Korean authorities are also taking action involving major U.S. technology companies. Last week, the country’s media watchdog concluded that Google and Apple had violated local laws by abusing their dominance in the app marketplace.
The Korea Media Communications Commission said the level of sanctions against the two companies would be decided at a later date.
Google and Apple have been accused of bypassing changes to South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act introduced in 2021. The law was designed to prevent major app marketplace operators from forcing developers to use only their own in-app payment systems.
After the law was revised, Google and Apple allowed customers to make purchases through third-party payment systems but charged transaction fees of around 26 percent on purchases made outside their in-app payment systems. Critics argued that the fees effectively weakened the impact of the legislation.
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In October 2023, South Korea’s media watchdog warned that it could impose the maximum possible fine on Google and Apple, but the punishment has not yet been imposed.
