Google has shut down a mass of 449 Korean-language YouTube channels as part of its investigation into coordinated influence operations in the second quarter of this year.

Google released its Q2 2026 Influence Operations Report on July 31.

According to the report, the Korean-language channels shut down by Google between April and June totaled 449, consisting of 22 in April, 367 in May, and 60 in June.

Notably, 81.7 percent of the total channels were shut down in May, just ahead of the June 3 local elections.

The channels caught in May included 142 criticizing the South Korean government, 71 supporting the government, 53 criticizing both the government and political parties, and 43 supporting the government while criticizing specific political parties.

In April, 22 channels supporting politicians and criticizing specific parties were shut down, while in June, 60 channels posting content criticizing the government or political parties were closed.

Google stated that these channels were shut down during its investigation into "coordinated influence operations."

However, it did not disclose specific criteria for its judgments, such as how the channels were linked to one another.

While Google identified the associated countries or operators in cases involving certain nations like China, Russia, and Iran, it did not disclose detailed information regarding the Korean-language channels, such as the countries behind them, specific operators, or channel names.

This massive shutdown of Korean-language channels posting content related to South Korean politics is unprecedented in Google's quarterly reports so far.

From the second quarter of 2025 through the first quarter of 2026, there were zero records of Korean-language channel shutdowns in the same reports.

Meanwhile, the total number of YouTube channels shut down by Google during the same period in connection with coordinated influence operations reached 18,522.

Including channels with specified linked countries, China accounted for the largest share with 9,186, followed by Russia with 2,083, India with 1,778, and Azerbaijan with 981.

(Photo: Capture from Google Blog, Yonhap News)