YouTube is the latest internet giant to restore former President Donald Trump’s account. Video services owned by Google include: lifted Ban on uploading videos from Trump’s channel. YouTube says it made the decision after weighing the “continued risk” of violence against the opportunity to hear from key political candidates. The company said Trump will continue to be subject to the same policies as other users.
YouTube blocked uploads to Trump’s channel days after the attack on the US Capitol by supporters hoping to overturn the results of the presidential election on January 6, 2021. The site also removed certain videos. However, I didn’t scrub the channel completely. Meta and Twitter have been stricter, banning Trump entirely over concerns that his statements could incite violence.
1/ Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel has been unrestricted to allow new content to be uploaded. We carefully assessed the ongoing risks of real-world violence and balanced voters’ equal opportunity to hear from key national candidates heading into the election.
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) March 17, 2023
Trump hasn’t posted a new video on YouTube since the upload limit was lifted. As a general rule, we do not use services such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. that have lifted bans and other restrictions. Instead, he prefers to use his own Truth Social platform, where he agrees to provide at least six hours of his exclusive content.
House Republicans had a change of heart shortly after announcing plans to crack down on tech giant CEOs over their content moderation policies. For years, conservatives have claimed that Google, Meta, and other big-name brands censor right-wing views under the guise of fighting misinformation and hate speech. and has uncovered evidence that companies sometimes make policy exceptions for conservative outlets for fear of backlash.
The lifting of restrictions at this stage is more symbolic than practical. But the videos show that YouTube and other internet powerhouses are trying to move between freedom of speech and a desire to keep potentially problematic content out of their products. .
