YouTube Shuts Down New Channels from Venezuela and Cuba

Without prior notice, YouTube Thursday removed three Venezuelan channels and two Cuban channels from its platform.

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"We were loading to the platform not only live transmissions but also our complete programs. There is no clear explanation for this action," said Barry Cartaya, a presenter of Venezolana de Television (VTV), a state-run television station based in Caracas.

"This page isn't available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else," is the message popping up when the people try to access VTV channels.YouTube eliminated over 68,000 videos that the Venezuelan media stored in this platform since2011.

The VTV channels affected by the U.S. company are Multimedio VTV (314,000 subscribers), VTV Programs (87,000 subscribers), and VTV Signal Live, which allowed journalists and correspondents to directly post their productions to inform the public.

In Cuba, outlet Cubadebate also denounced the closure of two Youtube channels, namely, Mesa Redonda (19,700 subscribers) and Cubavision Internacional (8,200 subscribers).

Local analysts consider YouTube's decisions might be related to the sanctions President Donald Trump is applying against individuals, companies, and institutions of both countries.

According to YouTube's own rules, a channel can be closed when it has committed three serious offenses during a certain period. In the cases of the Venezuelan and Cuban channels, however, these offenses did not exist.