YouTube extends Trump’s suspension ahead of inauguration day
YouTube will continue blocking Donald Trump’s official channel from uploading new videos and livestreams for a minimum of seven more days. The Google—owned video platform told CNBC and Bloomberg that it extended the channel’s suspension “[i]n light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence.” Further, “comments will continue to be indefinitely disabled under videos from the channel.”
The website originally blocked Trump from uploading new content on January 12th after removing a video wherein he called the Capitol rioters “very special.” At the time, it also cited concerns about ongoing potential for violence for serving the channel a strike, which equates to a ban on uploading anything new for a “minimum” of one week. Now, YouTube has decided to keep the channel frozen — but accessible — ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Other social media platforms also banned Trump in one way or another after the Capitol riots and after he posted the video on his accounts telling the rioters that they were special. Facebook removed the video, explaining that it “contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.” It also blocked Trump’s accounts on its main platform and on Instagram indefinitely, and at least after Biden’s inauguration. Twitter suspended his account and made his tweets completely inaccessible on its website. Even Twitch disabled his account to prevent the platform “from being used to incite further violence.”
Trump, however, has been trying to get around those bans. He previously made attempts to tweet from the @POTUS account and the @TeamTrump account. More recently, his camp uploaded a video entitled “Farewell Address of President Donald J. Trump” on the official White House YouTube channel.
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