YouTube Suspends Trump's Account Over Concerns About Violence
- by Nick Cohen
- in Industry
- — Jan 14, 2021
Twitter then late on Friday then decided enough was enough, and it permanently took down Donald Trump's Twitter account, citing the possibility that it would be used in the final 12 days of Trump's presidency to incite violence.
The suspension of Trump's channel came after comments the president made at a news conference on Tuesday that streamed on the platform.
The move to curtail Trump's social media activity comes after a mob of his supporters, urged on by his rhetoric, stormed the Capitol last week to try to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.
In a statement issued by the White House, Trump said he'd been "negotiating with various other sites" and it was even touted he would build his own platform to promote his views.
A spokesperson said that a second strike on the channel will lead to a two-week ban, and three strikes means permanent suspension.
Soon after permanently banning Trump's account, Twitter also suspended the account belonging to his campaign.
Google has not provided details of what Mr Trump said in the video it banned, however the BBC has discovered it was a clip from a press conference he had given on Tuesday.
Under YouTube's moderation policy, channels that violate its community guidelines for the first time are typically given a warning.
Several large commercial insurers contacted by Business Insurance declined to comment on their business relationship with the Trump Organization, which controls Mr. Trump's real estate business and other holdings.
Facebook and Twitter have suspended President Trump's accounts, and some people are wondering if that violates his freedom of speech. The company added that accounts like Donald Trump's "are not completely above our rules and can not use Twitter to incite violence, among other things".
A recent video on Trump's channel had incited violence, YouTube told CNN and the video has now been removed. Google said the app did not have sufficient moderation policies in place to curb content that could also incite violence.
It is unclear what YouTube removed from the president's account before suspending it.
But after the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week, which Trump did not immediately condemn, the mainstream social media companies decided the risk was too great to keep Trump online.