Google blocked more than 16,000 Azerbaijani channels on YouTube between 2021 and 2024 for spreading content critical of Armenia and praising the Azerbaijani government. 87% of this volume was detected and blocked in 2024 according to the company's Threat Analysis Group.

The investigation into activities related to Azerbaijan was first reported in these reports in the second quarter of 2021. In June 2021, thirty-three channels were blocked for spreading content in Azerbaijani and Armenian supporting the Azerbaijani army. The Threat Analysis Group noted that the examples they found were similar to those discovered by Facebook.

In October 2020, Facebook (since 2021, Meta) uncovered a network in Azerbaijan that was spreading propaganda using fake accounts. The posts were mostly in Azerbaijani, as well as Russian and English. The comments often touched on local and regional news and events, politics, and tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The content praised Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) party, accused opposition figures of treason, and denied allegations of human rights violations by Azerbaijan.

Following this revelation, Google also began to address propaganda activities linked to Azerbaijan. After closing thirty-three YouTube channels in 2021, the scope of the investigation expanded to 516 the following year. However, this was only the beginning: Last year, in 2024, more than 14,000 YouTube channels linked to Azerbaijan were blocked after coming under the scrutiny of the Threat Analysis Group, which is 87% of the channels blocked in this investigation.

It should be noted that this is a small portion of the blocked Azerbaijani channels, which specifically relate to propaganda activities, including against Armenia. These were identified as part of an internal investigation by the Threat Analysis Group and are not related to other violations of YouTube’s policies.

In 2024, Threat Analysis Group’s bulletins included data on this investigation starting in June. The number of blocked channels has increased each month.

The reports do not specify how many videos were distributed through channels or how many views they received. There is also no mention of the geography of distribution or impact assessment.

However, in reviewing recent reports, we have noticed that the investigation of activities related to Azerbaijan is one of the key targets in the focus of the group. In 2024, it was the third largest in terms of exposure, second only to propaganda activities related to China and Russia.

Another fifty-seven channels in Russian, Azerbaijani, and Turkish that presented the Azerbaijani position on the Artsakh issue were blocked in October 2023 as part of another investigation. These, according to the report, are associated with Russia, but criticize Russia and Armenia.

The Threat Analysis Group has once again mentioned the blocking of Armenian content in recent years. Google News has spread pro-Russian content in Armenian and Georgian, referring to the political processes of both countries.

While it is difficult to calculate the impact of this Azerbaijani propaganda, the number of blocked channels shows that many resources have been invested in organizing information campaigns on this digital front. Technology companies that have internal investigations often refer to each other, notice similarities in propaganda operations and conclude that they are being conducted in a coordinated manner.