YouTube suspends Donald Trump's channel for a week, cites policy violation
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- Published: January 13, 2021 12:58
New Delhi: Video-sharing app YouTube said on Tuesday night it was barring new content from being posted on President Donald Trump’s channel for at least a week over a violation of its policies, the latest move by a social media giant to crack down on the president following last week’s Capitol Hill riots.
“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,” YouTube said in a statement on Twitter as quoted by The Hill.
The comments section has also been disabled, the app stated further.
“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,” it added
The decision comes days after Twitter banned Trump (his personal account: @realDonaldTrunp) from its platform completely, a stunning move that drew the ire of conservatives in the US, as well as criticism from around the world, reported The Hill.
However, YouTube did not specify the nature of the content that prompted Tuesday’s action. According to CNN Business, it concerned a video that promoted violence.
The video-sharing website had recently pulled former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast from its platform, citing noncompliance with its guidelines, The Hill reported further.
On January 6, a group of Donald Trump’s loyalists stormed the US Capitol building, clashing with the police, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda.
The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. The outgoing President has since been blocked on all major social networks at least until after he is out of office.
Five people – four protesters and a police officer – were killed in the riots. The last time the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814.