YouTube is immediately blocking access around the world to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, the company said on Friday, citing a policy barring content that denies or trivializes well-documented violent events.

The world's most used streaming video service, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine now fell under its violent events policy.

"Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia's invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy," spokesman Farshad Shadloo said. "In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally."