YouTube has removed an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda into the activities of former head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak after his dismissal from the platform. The editorial team has called on the platform to reconsider the decision.
YouTube has removed an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda into the activities of former head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak after his dismissal from the platform. The editorial team has called on the platform to reconsider the decision.
As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, YouTube removed Mykhailo Tkach’s film «The Godfather 'in the Distance'. How Ukrainska Pravda Found Andriy Yermak,» which was released on February 6, 2026. The YouTube channel notes that at the time of removal, the material had already collected over 1 million views.
According to the editor-in-chief of the publication Sevgil Musayeva, the editorial office considers YouTube’s actions as an act of censorship. She emphasized that, in the opinion of the UP, the video did not contain data that could be considered a secret of private life, and all the individuals recorded in the material are current or former public figures whose activities are of public interest. The editorial office also expects the platform to restore access to the investigation.
This story is given special weight by the fact that this material, as the UP notes, was the first to show in detail Yermak’s activities after his resignation as head of the OP. That is, it is not just about the removal of a popular video, but about the loss of access to a journalistic investigation that the editorial office considers to be of public importance.
YouTube’s privacy policy states that the platform can consider complaints if the person is clearly identifiable in the video, but when evaluating the content, it also takes into account the public interest, the news value of the content, and whether it concerns a public figure. That is why the story of the removal of the UA investigation may go beyond the conflict between one media outlet and the platform and once again raise questions about how large digital services moderate journalistic materials about the government.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how in the second quarter of 2025, Google removed almost 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts that spread propaganda for China, Russia, and other countries.
