YouTube has restored former President Trump’s channel and allowed him to upload videos ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the video platform said on Friday.
A multitude of social media sites have banned Trump from their platforms following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. YouTube had cited “concerns about the continuing potential for violence” and violations of its “policies on incitement to violence.”
In its decision to reverse course, YouTube — owned by Google — acknowledged that it had considered such a threat of violence, but wanted to give voters a fair opportunity to hear from the main presidential candidates. The move reflected a similar decision by Meta Platforms, which left Trump back on Facebook and Instagram in January. Trump announced his 2024 run in November.
“As of today, Donald J. Trump’s channel is no longer restricted to upload new content,” YouTube said said in a statement on Twitter. “We have carefully assessed the ongoing risk of violence in the real world, while also weighing the chance for voters to be heard equally by key national candidates in the run-up to an election.”
“This channel remains subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube,” YouTube added.
Shortly after the reinstatement, Trump’s channel uploaded an election commercial titled “I’m BACK!”. The spot features news footage of Trump speaking to a crowd on election night in 2016. Trump also posted the video on his Facebook page. its first activity in more than two years.
“Sorry to keep you waiting – complicated business,” Trump said in the archived footage, before flashing an ad for the campaign’s SMS service.
In December, the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 events recommended a criminal prosecution against Trump for his role in the riot in which a mob violently attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Nevertheless, Trump is considered the front runner in the Republican primaries. He has not yet been charged.
Twitter, which also banned Trump after the Jan. 6 riot, reinstated him in November after new owner and CEO Elon Musk questioned users about bringing the former POTUS back. Twitter had been Trump’s platform of choice during his presidency. However, the founder of Truth Social has not used his Twitter account since reactivation; His last tweet was days after the attack on the Capitol.
After Trump was reinstated on Twitter, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) responded to Musk’s poll by tweeting video of the attack on the Capitol.
She tweeted that the last time Trump was on Twitter, the page “was used to incite a riot, several people died, the Vice President of the United States was nearly assassinated and hundreds were injured, but I don’t think that’s enough.” to answer this question. Twitter poll is.”
Source : www.latimes.com