Google says it blocked YouTube channels and accounts for a disinformation campaign linked to Iran

A FireEye report gave details of the investigation

Google said on Thursday it blocked YouTube channels and other accounts due to a disinformation campaign linked to Iran, after similar movements of Facebook and Twitter.

"We identified and canceled several accounts linked to the organization IRIB (Iranian state radio and television) that disguised their connection to this effort," Google vice president Kent Walker said in a statement, noting that this type of interference operation violates the policies of the company.

Google said that working with digital security firm FireEye linked the accounts to IRIB and associated them with an operation that dated back to at least January 2017. The technology giant reported that it blocked 39 YouTube channels with "relevant videos" that had been seen a total of 13,466 times in the United States and dismantled six accounts in Blogger and 13 in the social network Google+.

Google is the latest technological great actor in counteracting misinformation campaigns from Russia and Iran, which have the alleged purpose of sowing confusion and discord among American voters before the November legislative elections. "In addition to the information we received from FireEye, our teams investigated a wider range of suspicious actors linked to Iran related to this campaign," said Google.

A FireEye report released Thursday gave details of the investigation. As evidence, in the investigation emerged telephone numbers, information on website registration and promotion of content in tune with Iranian political interests, according to the report.