YouTube Suspends Trump’s Channel for at Least Seven Days

January 13, 2021
Business

The seven-day suspension from YouTube was an “important and necessary first step” that should become permanent, said Jim Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit news media watchdog group. “While it is disappointing that it took a Trump-incited attack on our Capitol to get here, it appears that all the major platforms are finally beginning to step up,” he said.

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During his presidency, Mr. Trump has used YouTube differently from Twitter or Facebook. His YouTube channel is filled mostly with clips from speeches and rallies, as well as videos of supporters defending him on Fox News. The videos lack the punch of his minute-by-minute commentary on Twitter and Facebook.

YouTube’s suspension comes after months of foot-dragging by the company. In the weeks after the Nov. 3 election, Mr. Trump’s channel was filled with videos showing him and his supporters challenging the outcome. YouTube refused to act on those videos even as critics called on it to do so, saying that questioning the election results was not a violation of its policies.

Last month, after most states certified their election results, YouTube said it would start removing videos that misleadingly said there had been widespread voting fraud or voting errors. But the company said that it would not penalize channels for posting such content with suspensions until Jan. 21, after Inauguration Day. YouTube said it had removed thousands of videos spreading misinformation about the 2020 election.

It removed several videos from Mr. Trump’s channel last week, including the one where he praised rioters and urged them to leave the Capitol. The company, cited the spread of election misinformation.

A day later, YouTube eliminated the grace period and said it would start issuing “strikes” against channels for policy violation regarding election fraud. Channels that receive a strike are prevented from uploading new videos for a week. After three strikes, a channel can be permanently banned from YouTube.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/technology/youtube-suspends-trump.html