JAKARTA - The British Ministry of Defense on Wednesday, March 23, asked YouTube to remove videos from the online platform of hoax videos, which they said were fabricated by the Russian government.
Britain's Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, last week ordered an investigation after a fraudster claiming to be Ukraine's prime minister was able to contact him. Wallace said he ended the 10-minute call when he became suspicious about the "misleading" questions asked of him.
Several video clips later emerged online, showing Wallace speaking from behind a moving vehicle while he was asked about various issues including nuclear weapons and NATO.
"We are calling on YouTube to help us support Ukraine by removing videos fabricated by the Russian state and disseminated to try and demoralize people who are fighting for their freedom," the Defense Ministry said in a tweet.
We are calling on YouTube to help us support Ukraine by taking down videos doctored by the Russian state and disseminated to try and sap the morale of a people fighting for their freedom pic.twitter.com/586ydI4VAp
— Ministry of Defense (@DefenceHQ) March 23, 2022
The ministry posted a longer letter calling on YouTube, the world's most widely used video streaming service, to remove or at least block access to the videos in line with a March 11 decision at the Google-owned company to block access to related channels. Especially from the Russian state-funded media.
It details two objections to the video relating to NLAW anti-tank missiles being sent from the UK to Ukraine.
"The forged clip confirms that British NLAWS supplies to Ukraine have "failed many times". Our NLAWS did not fail, this is factually incorrect," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Second, in the hoax video, Wallace stated about the supply of the weapons. In the video Wallace thanks: "We've got more guns, we're running out of our own".
But the Ministry of Defense says this is factually incorrect. "We are in no way short on supplies," the UK Ministry of Defence said.
The Defense Ministry did not specify exactly how the video had been manipulated by the pro-Russian side. But he said that in "modified and edited" form they could be used by Russia to support its actions in Ukraine.
"I'm sure you don't want to be a channel for Russian propaganda or be associated with the potential consequences of this type of media manipulation," Wallace said in letters to Google and YouTube.
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