YouTube suspends Donald Trump’s account
13 January 2021, 07:54
The video sharing website said it will also be disabling comments on the president’s channel “indefinitely”.
YouTube is suspending US President Donald Trump’s account for “a minimum of seven days” due to concerns about “the ongoing potential for violence”, the video sharing website said.
The company announced the news in a pair of tweets early on Wednesday.
1/ After review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J. Trump’s channel for violating our policies. It now has its 1st strike & is temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a *minimum* of 7 days.
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) January 13, 2021
“After review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J Trump’s channel for violating our policies,” YouTube said in a statement on Twitter.
“It now has its 1st strike & is temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a *minimum* of 7 days.
2/ Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section. https://t.co/1aBENHGU5z
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) January 13, 2021
“Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section.”
The move comes after fellow social media giants Facebook, Instagram and Twitter decided to remove the president’s accounts in the wake of last week’s attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Mr Trump’s supporters.
Twitter said in a statement on its blog on Friday it had decided to take action against Mr Trump’s account after a review of two of the president’s tweets posted on Friday found they had violated its glorification of violence policy.
Meanwhile Facebook on Thursday suspended Mr Trump’s account through to January 20, the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, and possibly indefinitely.
Some prominent political figures have expressed concern over the suspension of Mr Trump’s social media accounts, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling it “problematic”, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the move “raises a very important question” about social media companies “taking editorial decisions”.
